Lady Reyani supposed that she should still care what Amiya's future husband, and her own King,  thought of the fact that she had strode out of the room given to her for her stay in Keepsal, wearing pants. But she didn't, nor did she care about the opinions of anyone else on the matter either. Reyani just knew that she wanted to be involved, that she needed to be involved in whatever was unfolding around her.

Her fighting was staff strapped to her back and she was focused on catching up with the Master at Arms as he hurried to go risk his life by seeking an unscheduled meeting with more Feysha. It could be a risk, she wasn't sure. Lady Verana had seemed relatively friendly, despite what myths and legends said about the darkness of the creatures that prowled the Woods of Clairval. 

Maybe she had slipped on a pair of her soft riding pants and a shirt in record time and bolted towards the stables because she had finally heard it put into words she hadn't been able to say herself. Or perhaps it was because she was tired of sitting on the side lines and having men assume that she was incapable of doing more than smiling and giggling at their jokes.

 Whatever the cause, she caught up to Sir Benchan as he started across the courtyard to the stables, one of her men leading out her horse as Benchan's own mount was brought out to him. 

He paused, looking at her horse, then her, raising one brow. "This isn't a pleasure ride." He was a grumpy, long suffering man and she saw only apprehension in his eyes as he spoke. He clearly had only one thought about high-born ladies and it wasn't a good one.

"No, its quite dangerous, but its asinine to go yourself and I figure that if I can show you where she probably watched us from. We might be able to enter the forest in the approximate area that her people will be in." Reyani mounted and wheeled her horse, starting along the cobblestones towards the main gate, leaving him to catch up. She was halfway out of the city by the time he had managed to bring his war charger alongside her smaller mare. 

"Can you fight with that big stick?" Sir Benchan grumbled like a bear poked but not allowed to attack.

Reyani nodded, giving him a grim smile, "better than most people can fight with their swords, Sir Benchan."

"Alright. But just so you know, we don't even know if there's anyone else out there. She never said if her people came with her. Or if they're far back into the woods and she's just been staying closer by herself." He shrugged, letting out a slow breath as they left the city and gave their horses rein to stretch their legs in a quick canter. 

The rode in silence for a while watching the land stretch out on either side of them as they left the trappings of the small city behind. Eventually, her thoughts prompted her to turn to him curiously.  "Do you think she... her people.... Are what she says, or do you think they're more like what our stories make them to be?"

Sir Benchan gave her a considering look, before glancing back out to the woods, "I trust Verana. I can't tell you why I do but I think she is everything she has said she is. There's still a great deal we don't know. I mean, they have completely different values, priorities, so maybe there is room for misunderstanding. But I don't think they're the human eating monsters our stories make them seem."

Reyani nodded at that, slowing her horse to a walk as she watched the road for something familiar to point to the right spot, hoping that she could remember it as well as she told him that she could. "I know. I was ready to distrust her completely. But there's something alluring or disarming, as if I don't want her to walk out the door."

"Maybe that's why they chose her. She has the ability to get to people on a basic level." Benchan's dour expression changed to something more considering as he watched her, "I was raised in a village where we respected the Feysha a bit more than most people in cities do. We didn't go into the Wild areas but during our festivals, we would leave offerings to the fey. We understood that they kept the forest alive and that the forest is what gave us a lot of what we had to survive. After meeting her, feeling her gaze, I believe we were watched more than we ever knew but they never came within our sight. They never spoke a word to us."

"Maybe she's the friendly one out of the bunch..." Reyani whispered as she turned around to look at the Keep and nodded, it was just out of sight. Reyani felt sure she was where they stopped and dismounted. "Hey, how good of a fighter is Lord Shelby?"

"He was my best student, I taught him up until he came of age." Benchan dismounted as she did then followed her as they walked off the road and across the field, towards the trees. "He then left Clairval for a couple years and studied more with other fighters. I wouldn't say he was the best in the world but its been a while since he came across someone who challenged him."

Reyani chuckled at that, even as they neared the dark, oppressive expanse that was the outskirts of the Wild. "Who do you think would win, if him and Lady Veranandein sparred?"

Benchan side glanced at her, his expression schooling itself into a mask she couldn't read. "I've never seen her fight."

"Yes, but you can tell the way she moves that she's a fighter. If she didn't use any of these powers she apparently has." Reyani pressed, grinning to him, seeing his emotions warring with one another as he thought about it.  

When he didn't answer, she continued as they came within reach of the dark woods. "I don't think she intended to openly challenge him but when he told her she was too small and probably too weak to fight against a human male, she told him that she could match his strength and size with her skill and speed."

Benchan stopped and grabbed her arm, pulling her back from the edge of the woods. His voice a low whisper. There was suddenly panic in his tone, coupled with real fear. "That's not why she fainted, is it? He didn't take her up on the challenge? I'm not going to go into these woods, claiming innocence, only to have them find out that she was injured in a sparring match."

Reyani was given moment to pause and consider those implications before she glanced into the trees. Her eyes could only pick up the branches and leaves beyond, but she shivered at the feeling of being watched by something predatory and dangerous. It was as if the trees themselves did not welcome the human intrusion, "no, she said she was... giving the garden what she had plenty of but that she had given too much. The conversation turned from the challenge before that and the subject was dropped."

"If we look at this power of hers like we would look at any sort of energy consumption. Anything strenuous like running or lifting something heavy or fighting for a long time. I would assume that it eats up a great deal of her body's energy stores. She mentioned yesterday to me that she was hungry for reasons other than not eating for a day." Benchan murmured thoughtfully as they tied the horses off to a tree on the edge of the forest.  

They paused for a moment longer before entering the woods, gingerly making their way deeper into the cool, shaded Wild. "I would assume she has just overdone herself. I just don't know if resting on a bed, in the Keep and away from the Earth, as she calls it, is going to help her."

"So what's the plan, where are we trying to go?" Reyani asked after they had walked in silence for a while, the feeling of being hunted growing with each step they took. She fought the feeling of danger that clung about her like an oppressive cloak. Humans didn't enter the Wild, grown men and armies were cautious about delving too deep into the trees and Reyani was walking deeper by the moment with only one Guard leading the way. 

"I'm hoping if we make enough noise, stumble around enough, we'll find someone who's waiting for Verana. And hope that they'll understand us, come back and help us help her." Benchan shrugged simply, as if that was a sufficient enough plan to get them out alive.

Reyani barked a laugh, shaking her head. "That's the stupidest plan I've ever heard."

"Aye, but it worked." Benchan stopped and Reyani looked up, noticing  that they were  now surrounded by a group of what she could only describe as Fey. She couldn't say when it happened, when they had melted out of the trees around them but there was around a dozen of them.

 Slim of build with skin covered mostly with some form of mud or paint. The Fey had dark hair as opposed to Verana's blonde though the had her subdued brown clothing and fierce blue eyes. Each and every one of them was holding blades, some were curved and serrated, others were slim and pointed. But all of them were old, ancient looking things that had seen better days, rusted and chipped as they were.

  Benchan didn't draw his own swords, though his hands went to his hilts as he spoke in a subdued, almost respectful manner. "Do any of you understand us? We're here about Lady Veranandein..."

"I do not learn languages quickly as she does, but I have learned enough... what have you done to her?" The voice was musical, accented and halting as it spoke Clairvalan but Reyani was sure it was a male speaking, though he looked smaller, lither than Verana was. 

Benchan steepled his fingers and bowed his head over them. "Earths blessing to you. I am Benchan."

Around them the odd, musical language that Verana had spoken earlier rang in their ears. It was indescribably beautiful but frightening in how alien it sounded, she couldn't even tell what emotion was being conveyed let alone the message that passed through those stoic, predatory mouths of the creatures around them.

"You were one of the Humans that captured.... Hurt her." The male said bluntly, those beautiful blue eyes narrowed at the two of them, "and she is one of the female riders we saw this morning. Where is Verana?"

"I was part of that group, yes. But I was not part of the group that tortured her. I know that is small difference to you and I don't blame you. But she's back at the Keep. We came to get help. She collapsed,and we are not sure what to do."

More of the Feysha language erupted and if Reyani had to make a guess, the one who spoke their language was translating. The rest of the group spoke up afterwards, their voices like a choir serenading them with beautiful death. It made a chill run down her spine as she listened. The male glanced around, responding for a moment in his own language before turning back to look at the two of them. Demanding more than asking, "what was she doing when she collapsed."  

Benchan looked to Reyani, who cleared her throat before addressing the male speaking to them. "We were in the Garden. She had said that it was imbalanced, not connected to the rest of the earth. She kept stopping, touching the ground under the plants, or brushing her fingers along the leaves, she said she was giving what she had. She then said she had to go, stood up and then fainted."

He looked at her, his nostrils flaring and expression darkening with her words before he nodded and turned to address one of the other Fey. It sounded like a heated exchange, though Reyani was judging more on the shaking heads and angry gestures than the musical exchange. When she side glanced to Benchan, the man gave her a rather unreassuring look. Neither of them knew how the Fey were taking the news.

"Alright. I will go with you and get her." The male said, sheathing his wickedly curved and serrated blades. Belatedly, he almost seemed to force out, "thank you for coming to get us." Before he motioned behind them, a signal to turn around, she supposed. He didn't wait for them, slipping past in a movement so smooth and quick that she couldn't track it. 

Only when he cleared his throat, did the two of them jump and turn around, stumbling to catch up to the Fey. 

"I'm Reyani." Reyani offered as they walked, finding it straining to keep up to his quick, light stride. He appeared to be made for the Wild, shifting and slipping between trees and bushes as if he knew exactly where they parted.

He didn't acknowledge her or pause until they reached the clearing. He stood there looking at their horses with a look of distaste as they caught up to him, both her and Benchan panting with the exertion. "I am Senchalneeria. We will walk." 

 He bared his teeth at her horse. The mare was watching him with extensive distrust that clearly went both ways, ears pinned back and looking ready to snap out and bite the creature. Reyani nodded, untying the horses and handing Benchan's reins to him, falling in beside the Fey. Senchalneeria watched them with a cold, calculating expression, before setting a  more manageable pace.

"You and the others look different than Verana. You're all similar to one another  almost indistinguishable. But not like her. Is she from a different part of the island?" Benchan offered, drawing a sharp gaze from both Senchalneeria and Reyani. She watched him incredulously, knowing she was curious as well, but unsure that it was the right time to ask. A feeling in her gut told her that there might not ever be a right time to ask.

"Verana is Feysha and she is more than Feysha." Their companion said at length, shaking his head and looking between the two of them, "the Feysha... we do not differ like Humans do. All of us have the same eyes, hair, skin and body. Other than the parts that are male and parts that are female."

"Is she part Human, then? Is that why she's taller, stronger looking? Her hair different?" Benchan would not leave it alone, much to Reyani's mortification, though his words drew laughter from the Feysha.

"No. She has no Human part to her. There are more than Feysha and Humans in this world." He paused though, glancing between the two of them and frowning. "But Verana does not know these answers any more than you do. And she is Feysha, for everything that matters. She does not need to be reminded of your observations."

They walked for a long while in silence, Benchan leading them to a smaller gate that was closer to the Keep, motioning to the guards on the towers for them to open it. As they waited, Senchalneeria tensed, took a step back and appeared to brace himself.

As the gate rumbled completely open he looked at them with an expression that showed he expected this to be the worst and possibly last experience of his life. "I will be very short tempered within these walls. I do not wish to strain any of the considerations that Verana has worked to build but this is not a place for the Feysha."

"We could bring her down to the Garden, would that be better?" Reyani asked gently, frowning at the man's obvious discomfort. Wishing he didn't have to steel himself so completely to go through with what they were asking him to do.

"No. If it is as unbalanced as she thought, then it will continue to drain her if she is near. It is better that you brought her inside." He let out a slow breath and suddenly it was as if a calm had broken over him, filling him with a peace that she could feel seep into her soul. All her tension, all her worries disappeared, pulled away by the sudden expression of tranquility on Senchalneeria's features.

With that, they turned as one and walked into the Keep, letting Benchan to lead the way as Reyani followed behind him and the Fey man.