“I only asked out of curiosity, of course,” Gale said, like a liar. “I rather assumed that Father Number One would be Halsin. The man’s good with animals.” The wizard, meanwhile, was decidedly a cat person, but there was still a fond smile on his face as he finally located Scratch’s ball and extracted it from the bag of holding — the dog instantly went berserk with joy, capering around in circles at their feet, before Gale flung the ball and Scratch went haring off after it.

He stood there watching as that puff of white vanished into the bushes. It was impossible not to like the best boy.

After a moment, he leaned over and whispered to the tiefling in a hushed voice, as if they were already sneaking about: “Do we make our escape now before he notices, or bring him with us to go shopping?”