"'M nineteen," she mutters defensively, and then immediately spoils the effect by reluctantly clarifying, "come end of Sarenith.  I just got started early."

"Wildly impressive it is, then!"  Grin.  "I'm twenty two and I'm only barely a paladin. Well, and a swordsman before that, but still."  Not much of a meaningful comparison in any case, wizards needing more than just risk and practice to be good at what they're doing, but since they're exchanging tactically relevant information. 

Okay, she can't help smiling back at that.  "Well enough, and I'm only barely a cleric, so we're quits there."

Oh good, he did manage to cheer her up about her odd divine spell situation.  "Yes.  So, are we leaving tomorrow morning?  Have you decided who's going where yet, or should I leave you alone so you can talk about it instead of just giving each other meaningful looks?"  If the Chelish men mind his friendly poking fun at them about how quiet they're being, he'll stop, but for now he's hoping he can get them to reply eventually.  Although with how expressionless they are, is he sure he'd know if they minded?  He should ask Khalida when he gets her alone, maybe.

There are indeed some meaningful looks at that!  Just a couple, though.  "Yeah, we'll talk," the squad leader replies.  "Tomorrow's good, I'll get you the final count before then."  That's enough of a signal for the men to start getting up and stacking empty bowls together (completely empty, scraped clean and mopped up with the bread ends), and the leader adds more quietly to him alone,  "The Chosen needs some extra blankets.  You'll see it happens?"

He got actual words!  More than the strictly necessary number of them, even!  He feels like their communication situation is going to work out all right.

...

"The--???  Uh-- That's not--" 

Come on, you can string some diplomatic or at least bloody informative words together... 

"It's really... easy for people to misinterpret... when you call her that."

At least he managed to keep his voice as quiet as the other man's rather than drawing the whole room's attention.

Blink.  Unreadable slight frown.

"Mm.  Like how the commander's a Select now.  Yeah?"

"... Yes, that."  It's a relief they were at least getting that one right.

"Every church has its own title – sometimes multiple ones."  Which, now that he thinks about it, may not have been obvious in a country that outlawed all churches but one.  "For Nethys it's usually Learned, or you can ask her if she prefers something else. But what you call a cleric implies who their god is."  And you really don't want to imply Asmodeus, he doesn't add, because these people are not stupid. 

"Hm."  Slight nod.  "I'll ask."

Nod.  "And I'll get extra blankets for her."

He'll give them... make it half an hour... to talk, before showing up with three more blankets outside the barracks room their patrol was assigned.  (He could've sent someone, but he can just about imagine the variety of possible comments.)  She probably doesn't need them until a more reasonable bedtime, but she did look so exhausted when they arrived.  And tiredness makes you colder, and she barely weighs anything to start with.

There's a card game starting up in the middle of the room and two men spectating while they mend tack; the cleric is perched on a corner bunk, absorbed enough in her reading that she doesn't glance up when the door opens and the squad leader steps out to accept the blankets. 

"I'm sending Ferrer and Cambra with you as far as the last fort before Kenabres proper."  He points out the man currently dealing and the one who'd gotten volunteered as spokesman.  "Rest of the squad'll stay based out of Three till Learned Khalida comes back through."

A nod at the plan, and another at the Learned's updated title.

"That sounds good."  Kenabres is not... a bad place, really... but they're probably right that it wouldn't suit them.

What things should he make sure of in case different places have different ideas of the obvious way for this to work... "They're officially under my command, I take it?"

"Hers.  But she'll listen t'you."

"Has she commanded in combat?"  He didn't get that impression from her, but he could be wrong.  "Not that I expect that to happen to just the four of us, but we should still know."

Snort.  "No."

"You are going with the patrols."  It's almost a question. 

"Of course we are, but – she said she might want to go by some of the smaller towns, to see what there is to buy before Kenabres.  Or something else might happen.  Surely you have command chains of more than one link, in Cheliax.  So – the patrol commander's first, yes, when we're with one, and secondly mine in combat and hers otherwise."  It's not that he expects their well-informed opinions to diverge, although that's not impossible either, it's that he expects her to not know what she's doing and the men to be hindered by trying to decide who to listen to.  "Will that do?"

"Yeah,  that'll do."  A level gaze, not quite challenging, not quite speculative.  "Commander's expecting her back in one piece."

A steady nod.  "I will do my best, but if I'm not in charge then I cannot bring her back if she decides to go elsewhere, and don't want to spend the rest of the year following her if she decides to see all of Mendev first.  Which I do not expect her to do, but – if I give you my word I will keep it, so I want us to be very clear on how far it goes."

"Not asking you to drag her back in chains, she could've left anytime these two months.  Just-"  but at this point Khalida has finally noticed the conversation at the door and is heading over to join them, and whatever he was going to say, he amends it to, "Be careful."

A slight apologetic smile and a serious nod.  "I will."

"Learned."  A nod for her as well.  He's not sure what of their conversation she heard and if she has comments on it.

Return nod;  if she's got opinions, she's keeping them to herself for now.  "I thank you for bringing the blankets.  Do you plan for tomorrow?"

"Yes.  The patrol going out in the morning is happy to leave later than they usually would, to give you time for prayer and breakfast, and we can keep going between forts that way until you want to veer off to a town, if all that sounds reasonable to you?"

"Ah."  Slight wince.  "I, um.  I need also a second hour.  For the wizard spells."  Stop that brain it's nothing to be embarrassed about it is literally how magic works.  "If there's a later patrol it makes sense to go with-"  that makes sense, which sounds stupid, and of course she then gets stuck on something non-stupid to say instead- different sentence.  "But else is good.  Yes."  Fuuuuck she sounds like such an idiot.

Well, now they can be embarrassed together, because he should've really remembered that!  (It's just so much time spent on spells...)  "My apologies, yes, of course.  I think people will be happy to wait a while longer to travel with a cleric."