"It should! I can Gate us right to the inn downtown, and we can plan on mostly seeing places there." 

"Have you got an itinerary?"

"- I don't, uh, know the city that well." He looks embarrassed. "I didn't really go downtown, I'd've stood out too much, I didn't look rich enough to be there and the guard would've kicked me out. And, uh. I didn't know how to read so I have no idea what a lot of the places are. But I've got a few things on a list and we can ask around once we're there." 

"Okay, that works fine. Should I learn more of the language, do you suppose?" She's got a few words from being around Aala.

"I should probably teach you some basic phrases, but I was thinking we'd mostly stick together and I can translate for you in Mindspeech. Also some people will speak Tantaran, since it's a big city and there's trade." 

"That's about what I was thinking, yeah."

He gives her a vaguely unhappy look. "I wish I knew more about– oh, I don't know, just how to dress and talk so we blend in. I think it'll probably just be obvious that we're foreigners? And...hopefully that's fine and as long as we're armed-looking foreigners the stupid Guard and all the pickpockets will leave us alone." 

"The Guard picks on foreigners?"

"I remember them doing, anyway, although mostly it was foreigners who didn't look that rich. I guess since they wouldn't be expected to have powerful local friends." 

"Wow, okay."

"I think we should be fine even if they have a go at us? I know all the official law, I got a book out of the library on it, so they can't get me by pretending something is illegal. And I'll bring a bit of money for small bribes, just because that's less complicated. And at worst we can Gate out and what are they supposed to do." He smiles crookedly at her. "We're better trained than any of the mages working for the King's Guard, and you can do set-commands." 

"I guess, but undoing them takes a long time so if I do one we have to stick around while their friends are pissed off."

"I guess. We're better off sticking to talking our way out unless it's a real emergency. But - honestly, if they're about to rape you or something, I think we shouldn't stick around to undo the set-commands and should just go home." 

"I guess I could... set command somebody to not rape anybody, specifically, and that wouldn't be awful to leave on."

"Is that much more complicated or slower to do than a normal set-command to just stop?" 

"They're a blunt instrument. They'd probably wind up with other problems so it would not be ideal to leave it but they'd probably be able to like... eat."

Ma'ar takes a breath, lets it out. Grits his teeth for a moment. 

"Aza, listen. I - think it'll be fine - the Guards who're bad are just bullies, they like hassling easy targets and we're not. But...look, if you're going to come with me, I really really really don't want you to get hurt because you didn't feel like you could use all the weapons you had to defend yourself and then get out. So - you can test it on me, all right? If it'd make you feel more comfortable doing it in an emergency. If it's a real emergency you won't have a lot of time to think about it so it'd be better if there's no reason to hesitate, right." 

"I don't know if that'd accomplish what you have in mind. Everybody's clockwork is different, set-commands might have different side effects even if they're framed the same way."

He takes another deep breath, still looking evenly at her. "Well, if I tell you that we're in real danger that I can't hold off and you need to set-command and leave someone while I get us out. Are you going to hesitate." 

"No, but I might go back later. With Skan maybe, it doesn't take long enough he'd get hungry."

"Oh, right, we can definitely plan on that. ...Although it might be hard to do without using Thoughtsensing, the Guard probably wouldn't cooperate and tell us where they are."  

"I mean, they'd have to if they wanted me to fix the person!"

"I - maybe - I don't...." 

And Ma'ar trails off, turning half away from her. 

"...mm?"

Ma'ar stares at the floor. "I'm...not sure that you really get it. How much Predain is....gods, how do I even describe it... No one expects cooperation? The default is hostility? I saw so many people get stupidly hurt because they were too - trusting, thought that rules were real and meant something and it wasn't just about who was strong enough to hurt you if they felt like it...?" 

He turns away, again, folding his arms. "Just. I - think Predain really, really isn't like here. And I feel like maybe you don't get that. I don't...think it would work. If you tried to go to the Guard-house and tell them you were here to fix the person you set-commanded. I - don't even know exactly what would go wrong - maybe if you were lucky everyone would figure they'd personally come out best if they went along with it and wouldn't get in trouble - but I wouldn't want to bet on that."