Lysira offered her near-kin a smile and then turned when she heard the Accepted approach. She offered the tall woman a brief, respectful greeting. Since they were all there, she wasn't going to waste any time on matters. The Gaidin turned from them to double-check her horse's tack and supplies.
She didn't know how long they would be at the Citadel, but knew it was not intended to be a long trip... The key word there was, of course and as ever, "intended." She also knew how frequently things did, and didn't, go according to plan.
Mounting up, she looked to see that the others were ready. "
I'm guessing you would like to lead the way?" Lysira kept her humor inwardly, since she didn't even think that had been an option otherwise. Instead of allowing that thought to show through, she simply inclined her head in agreement and then nudged Ashes forward.
As always, there was a channeler standing ready to open a Gateway for whoever needed to go somewhere. Today, it was an Asha'man that Lysira didn't know, but he already knew where they were going. He started channeling, and a Gateway swirled open to show the familiar sight of the Citadel's "landing" ground.
She nudged Ashes's sides and the horse obediently moved forward. Lysira's bow was on her back and it wasn't her first line of defense in this situation, despite her mastery. There wasn't a high likelihood of trouble on the other side, but that didn't mean she could allow herself to become lax. Riding through, she found that the odds were with her.
Seeing no trouble, she surveyed their surroundings and then waited for the others to come through.
Once they were, she turned and led the way up to the Citadel. They didn't have to get too close before the sense of something not quite being...the usual was clear. Lysira's sense of things being "wrong" didn't come up, but just that there was something going on. There were Citadel guards standing on the walls and at the gates, not giving the sense of issue.
Lysira frowned slightly. There were people camped just outside the walls, and as they hailed the guards and were permitted into the courtyard, she saw more people there. They had the ragged look of refugees or victims of...something.
That was when a tall man with a familiar face turned in her direction. Lysira blinked, then looked at Tia. She nodded towards the man and began to ride toward him, dismounting as she approached and slinging her reins over her elbow. Commander Marwen had a ragged look about him, but a faint smile lifted one corner of his mouth when he saw her.
"Lady Viathene," he greeted, but it was...dispirited.
Lysira had not met Marwen very often, but she knew him to be a friend of Miahala's and she had encountered him during a turn or two working on the Blightborder. He had also been known to her father, for the same reasons.
She waved the title away. '
What has happened here?' she asked. He knew many of her signs and after a moment, he was able to parse out her question. The fact that it was the most obvious thing to ask probably helped that.
It was at this point that he realized there were two others there. He bowed his head to the two other women. "Peace favor your swords this day," he said, then his gaze settled on Tia for a long moment. "Are you kin to Miahala Sedai?" he couldn't help but ask. "There is a look about you that reminds me of her."
After a moment, he returned to the question. "Simply put, our outpost was overrun. This is all that remains. My...soldiers forced me to attend the retreat with them." He looked at some of the surrounding men with a look of both affection and annoyance.
- Spoiler: show
- OOC: I don't know if Z would have heard about it at all, but Tia would likely have heard about Mia's efforts in the Blight and Marwen's post, at least to recognize the name, etc., Yes, I have something of a plan, but figured I'd stop here before I ran away with the whole thing. >.>