to Wulfgar but the blacksmith stormed over, poking a finger the wizard's way and reiterating his point.
Robillard turned his bored expression toward Wulfgar, and the barbarian understood that if he did not calm his often-angry boss, he might soon be self-employed. He patted the blacksmith's shoulders gently, and with strength that mocked even that of the lifelong smith, Wulfgar guided the man away.
When Wulfgar returned to Robillard, his face was a mask of anger. "What do you want, wizard?" he asked gruffly. "Have you come here to taunt me? To inform me of how much better off Sea Sprite is with me here on land?"
"Hmm," said Robillard, scratching at his chin. "There is truth in that, I suppose."
Wulfgar's crystal-blue eyes narrowed threateningly.
"But no, my large, foolish . . . whatever you are," Robillard remarked, and if he was the least bit nervous about Wulfgar's dangerous posture, he didn't show it one bit. "I came here, I suppose, because I am possessed of a tender heart."
"Well hidden."
"Purposely so," the wizard replied without hesitation. "So tell me, are you planning to spend the entirety of the winter at Deudermont's house, working . . . here?" He finished the question with a derisive snort.
"Would you be pleased if I left the captain's house?" Wulfgar asked in reply. "Do you have plans for the house? Because if you do, then I will gladly leave, and at once."
"Calm down, angry giant," Robillard said in purely condescending tones. "I have no plans for the house, for as I already told you I will be rejoining Sea Sprite very soon, and I have no family to speak of left on shore. You should pay better attention."
"Then you simply want me out," Wulfgar concluded. "Out of the house and out of Deudermont's life."
"That is a completely different point," Robillard dryly responded. "Have I said that I want you out, or have I asked if you plan to stay?"
Tired of the word games, and tired of Robillard all together, Wulfgar gave a little growl and went back to his work, banging away on the metal with his heavy hammer. "The captain told me that I could stay," he said. "And so I plan to stay until I have earned enough coin to purchase living quarters of my own. I would leave now - I plan to hold no debts to any man - except that I have Delly and Colson to look after."
"Got that backward," Robillard muttered under his breath, but loud enough - and Wulfgar knew, intentionally so - so that Wulfgar could hear.
"Wonderful plan," the wizard said more loudly. "And you will execute it while your former friends run off, and perhaps get themselves killed, trying to retrieve the magical warhammer that you were too stupid to hold onto. Brilliant, young Wulfgar!"
Wulfgar stood up straight from his work, the hammer falling from his hand, his jaw dropping open in astonishment.
"It is the truth, is it not?" the unshakable wizard calmly asked.
Wulfgar started to respond, but had no practical words to use as armor against the brutal and straightforward attack. However he might parse his response, however he might speak the words to make himself feel better, the simple fact was that Robillard's observations were correct.
"I can not change that which has happened," the defeated barbarian said as he bent to retrieve his hammer.
"But you can work to right the wrongs you have committed," Robillard pointed out. "Who are you, Wulfgar of Icewind Dale? And more importantly, who do you wish to be?"
There was nothing friendly in Robillard's sharp tone or in his stiff and hawkish posture, his arms crossed defiantly over his chest, his expression one of absolute superiority. But still, the mere fact that the wizard was showing any interest in Wulfgar's plight at all came as a surprise to the barbarian. He had thought, and not without reason, that Robillard's only concern regarding him was to keep him off Sea Sprite.
Wulfgar's angry stare at Robillard gradually eased into a self-deprecating chuckle. "I am who you see before you," he said, and he presented himself with his arms wide, his leather smithy apron prominently displayed. "Nothing more, nothing less."
"A man who lives a lie will soon enough be consumed by it," Robillard remarked.
Wulfgar's smile became a sudden scowl.
"Wulfgar the smith?" Robillard asked skeptically, and he gave a snort. "You are no laborer, and you fool yourself if you think that this newest pursuit will allow you to hide from the truth. You were born a warrior,