"You two alone?"

"Two Exalts are generally considered a sufficient force all by themselves. And bringing more people along would only muddy the waters, I think."

Hm.

She inclines her head, then. "Most would drag along their status symbols anyways," she says, a bit wryly.

"I myself am all the symbol I require." Eridani is every inch the noble Dragonblood Dynast, despite her banter with Wyld about not needing a wardrobe. The fine silks she wears are both immaculately tailored and flawlessly designed to not actually impede her movements while being maximally flattering to her figure. She is also wearing her swords openly, a large fine ruby capping each hilt, which are wrapped in dark red leather and chased with platinum, the wide jadesteel blades showing an impressive wavy flame pattern in yellows shading through orange to red.

"But our purpose here is not to impress, but to determine whether this little war with Sae'ira will threaten the safe passage along the Heart Way that Prasad is interested in maintaining. Or if there is in fact a more urgent threat, posed perhaps a raksha court as our greeting at the gate might suggest. The reports in the Council's archives were, shall we say, less than perfectly clear."

She inclines her head.

Then, casually (watching Eridani intently): "Clear words have had a way of getting into enemy hands, of late."

"You suspect a leak, then."

"Yes. And I haven't been able to isolate it - I'm fairly certain there's been no active supernatural surveillance during meetings, but that doesn't preclude a traitor, loose lips and gossip, or illicit access of the physical records. Or, indeed, stranger means of accessing information after the fact."

"'Fairly certain'? How can you tell?"

"The same way I know the raksha have sent more subtle spies into my lands than unseasonable birds, and the same way I guard my own work."

"Even mortal houses have artifacts, however minor they may be."

"Though the facility to use them is somewhat rarer."

"I was pursuing artificing before my brother's death."

"It does not behoove me to leave potential advantages unusable."

"Of course not. I assume these concerns are also why you are here, rather than Dau'u City."

Nod. "This location is in general more defensible, and there are less civilians to worry about in the case of a battle - which, in turn, makes it harder to infiltrate. Dau'u City has walls and can withstand sieges, but it is not a fort, especially for a war like this."

"And what is this war like, exactly?"

"Strange."

"The enemy appears in places that are conventionally improbable or even impossible - units moving too quickly between wide flung points, enemies striking over sheer cliff walls with no evidence of climbing gear - not just assassins, but soldiers too - but not doing that during a siege, merely doing ambushes."

"They also haven't offered a siege very often, or stood still to be engaged in the field - they're using raiding techniques, but they're not otherwise behaving like raiders, and we're unsure of their objectives."

"Are they taking captives?"

"Not often, that we know of - there's been instances where someone seems to have been replaced, but we've usually found the body at some point."

"Seems strange for either raiders or fey," she says, glancing questioningly at Eridani. 

"It is. Not at all a pattern with precedent."

"Unless there's a story they're playing out."

"Still not a story I've seen before."

"No... But they don't always go for worn down tropes."

"True..."

"We haven't noticed any story-like patterns yet... But the war's still young."

"I see no profit in letting it age much further."