No obligation to obey him, Solomon noted, but that didn't reject the possibility that he could still defend against them using shadows in the event anything went untoward. Of course, using his shadows against them could well only make them angrier, rather than proving his worth.

"And here I thought it was because the khajbit objected to being controlled," Solomon said dryly. That was certainly what it had felt like: as though he was under scrutiny and the khajbit had sought any chink in his armour to strike back. How much of that had been the khajbit alone? How much the darkness in the Ring?

"How does one go about being accepted by the beings there?" he asked. It made sense, but it wasn't something that had occurred to him as necessary, though it should have. The khajbit seemed to depend on a distinct set of rules, most of which were bounded by willpower and respect.