(Untitled)

[peerless_thayet]

Just before dawn, the raiders close in on the village and Pirate's Swoop, expecting to tighten their net and catch the Tortallans unaware. Instead they invade an empty village and face the castle's closed gates. On the wall, warriors and villagers alike stare down at them, fully armed

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[peerless_thayet]

His accent is definitely distinctive. To anyone who had been beyond Tortall's borders, it probably wouldn't pass for Gallan or Tyran or whatever country Alanna used to claim he was from. At the moment she can't recall. The night was long and sleep unattainable.

Checking her bowstring, Thayet glances up at the fog.

"Don't you start with the needless formality," she chides Raph. Her voice is pitched low, keeping her words between them. One or two guards stand within earshot and sometimes, under such circumstances, the rules and familiarity of tradition help keep some people from feeling lost or scared.

Raph never seemed the sort, however.

[peerless_thayet]

Thayet lifts her head and laughs quietly, the sound rich and clear, then lowers it once more to continue going over her bow.

Again.

She's checked every inch of it and her two daggers at least twice since arriving on the observation deck.

"No offense taken, Raphael."

Her smile is an invitation to speak freely.

[peerless_thayet]

Quiet for a long moment, Thayet nods.

"As do I."

She reaches a hand over the wall and swirls it through the air, before closing her fingers into a fist, like she's capturing the fog and wringing out its secrets.

"Do you know what this is?"

[peerless_thayet]

A faint smile.

Thayet tells him, "The rumblings are correct. Our enemies hide behind it, waiting to strike, but they have also packed this fog full of dampening spells. Every Gifted individual within these walls is feeling it press heavily down upon them."

Her gaze flicks to Numair. He's standing at the other end of the deck, hands on the wall, looking strained.

[peerless_thayet]

"It has its uses," says Thayet, "as well as its disadvantages. Why do you hate it?"

Polite curiosity lights her eyes, even if the truly courteous thing to do would be to leave the question unasked. If he intends to fight a battle in Tortall, he may very well have to get used to it.

[peerless_thayet]

"That's understandable," she says, though she doubts that is the extent of his dislike. "These spells are powerful. I can't imagine they are the work of just one mage, and thus would take a great deal of strength to unravel. Isn't it strange, then, that our second most powerful mage was called away just before we came under siege?"

The look she gives him is both thoughtful and pointed.

[peerless_thayet]

"Isn't it just."

Thayet might be cool and collected on the surface, but there's an undeniable hint of anger in her eyes and thin smile.

"I suppose it was the Stormwings spying on us," she adds. "A chilling thought."

[peerless_thayet]

That gets a laugh.

"Sleep? Oh, I very much doubt they'll want to allow us any of that. Although," she remarks, smile widening, "it might take them a while to regroup from the shock they received at dawn. I almost wish I had stayed behind in the village to better see their faces when they found it empty and the walls manned."