Eric dismounted from his horse, massaging his sore back: it had been a long trip, but even if he tried to hurry up he didn't manage to make up for his stop and Jeannie's and he was late. Well, no big news, he was always late when he went out for some mission in the cities. He left his horse in the stable and walked out of it, greeting some fellow crows that didn't miss the opportunity to tease him about his constant delays. He was craving for a good sleep, but he knew that he had to report first to the lord commander. The lord commander would complain about his delay, they would argue a bit and then he would report the result of the mission, in other words how all the lords said that they would think about sending more men to join the night watch: he knew that tune: it was the polite way to say that they were not interested in the night's watch at all and that if they were lucky they could hope to receive a couple of criminals. Not that Eric felt like blaming them, though. He kept walking tiredly toward the lord commander's room and, as soon as he reached it, he stopped and knocked on it, waiting for his command.