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There was something about water that soothed even the most restless of souls. The sea was preferable, but in absence of that, the river would always do. Though the gypsy usually enjoyed the docks, on this particular morning, she was dissatisfied with the bustle of the morning workers. Instead, she sought the quiet of the banks outside of town. There, she strolled leisurely along the river accompanied only by her thoughts and her stalwart Guardian, the handsome stag known as Oberon.

True, there were many worries that she could bemoan, but this particular morning it was logistics and supply that plagued her. Rajani had to laugh at that. Imagine, a wandering gypsy singer suddenly worrying about the day to day matters of an army. It was absurd. Considering that Soibhan's little venture was primarily a thing that was hidden in plain sight, most of their needs should be met by the Queen's own suppliers. After all, they would only take direct action if the need arose.

However, all three of the defacto leaders agreed that superior arms and armaments were required. They could not afford to settle for less. Rajani had a certain smith in mind for that, though doubtless the younger Grimm twin would not thank her for it. There was also the matter of alternative provisions, in the event that they were cut off from royal supplies or in the event that such supplies were deemed...unsafe. Not to mention-

Oberon interrupted her thoughts with a gentle nudge and directed Rajani's attention further up the mist-shrouded bank. A few moments later, the human could make out a vague pair of figures that resolved themselves into a man and a Guardian.

Well, now. What have we here?

The pair of strangers were nothing remarkable. The man's clothes seemed to be good quality, but they looked well-used, as well. There was nothing in particular to give away his station in life beyond his gait, which bespoke better breeding than a typical dock hand, at least, but could easily belong to anyone from the merchant class on up. He was simply an anonymous man out for a stroll with his Guardian.

As for the buck, he was a handsome thing, though the closer they drew, the more his coat seemed to resemble the bark of a tree. Peculiar, but then so were Guardians themselves.

"Good morning," Rajani said when she was close enough to be heard without shouting. The novelty had mostly worn off, but the gypsy was not adverse to speaking to another Chosen regardless of her earlier quest for quiet.

Though the gypsy was by far too used to praise being lavished upon her Guardian to deem such a comment worthy of reply, the Guardian himself was a proud, vain thing. As such, he nodded his head graciously, like a king accepting a gift. Already, he could tell that this was a man of discerning taste - his eyes slid over to Rajani - so long as this man had no designs on his Chosen, of course.

The chosen in question also ignored such ridiculous thoughts from her Guardian as being beneath her notice. If she paid him heed every time he got ideas in his head, she would have no time for anything else at all. Instead, she chose the only logical course of action and behaved like a civilized person when making a new acquaintance.

"Rajani," she said by way of introduction. "And this great, vain beast is Oberon."

"An unfortunate necessity," she said, for that was exactly what she saw the coming war as. If it were left to her, Rajani would simply go on living her life as a wandering singer. Instead, she found herself tangled in the leadership of a slightly less-than-authorized group of Wardens within the Queen's army. "But there is no one I would rather have beside me," she acceded. "And if we are to wage a war, at least we can be prepared for it." Spirits knew she had spent enough time plotting with Macaire and Soibhan to see to that.

Oberon eyed the younger buck, not exactly curious, but not hostile, either. If anything, he seemed to be assessing Dardanos. Whatever he found, it seemed to satisfy him, for he soon left off his study and adopted a more general watch, following the conversation between the humans, but also keeping his senses open for danger.

At this point, such exchanges were becoming familiar - enough so that the gypsy did not even think twice before she made the offer. After all, he was Chosen. The more properly trained warriors they had fighting, the better. Whatever the Queen was doing did not seem to be happening as quickly as Rajani would have liked. If she planned on training her Wardens, it was not happening yet. So, she simply said, "I know just the arms master for the job, if you've an interest." And with a glance at Dardanos, she added, "He'll have a regiment for your lad, as well."

Of course, Macaire was part of Soibhan's pet project - the one that Rajani herself had somehow gotten roped into - but that was not to say that everyone who was trained by him necessarily joined their cause. Besides, in her eyes, the entire thing was harmless enough. It was simply a contingency plan in the event that the Queen was compromised by that Spirit she had picked up. It still had not occurred to her that they could be considered borderline treasonous.

"I was referring to a training regimen," she said drily, though inside she was cursing her slip of the tongue. She could play it off as nothing, but Oberon seemed to think that they ought to simply go with it and see how things played out. The stag may have been a troublesome fawn, and he might hold an unreasonable grudge against any men who got too close to her for his comfort, but there was no denying that his instincts were usually good when he so chose to share them. So, instead of deflecting his not-so-subtle inquiries, she heeded the stag.

"Though now that you mention it, I may have heard of such a group. So far as I can tell, they have nothing against the Queen, but they prefer to be prepared for any event. Seems they might be willing to take matters into their own hands, if it comes to that." The gypsy glanced up at him through her lashes, her own veiled green eyes meeting his. "What do you make of that?"

"Indeed," she murmured. Rajani thought she sensed something else behind his words, some kind of bitterness, perhaps, but she did not pursue it. The gypsy had experienced her share of anger and resentment and could not begrudge anyone their own grievances. As she was content to let his personal feelings rest so long as they did not become a problem, she only said, "Though I would hope that they would not leap into action too soon. Seems their cause could only be harmed by impatience."

Rajani herself was in a rather unusual position, to say the least. As a gypsy, she was very distant from the politics and intrigues of Queen and Court. Perhaps it was unusual, but she did not hold any ill will toward the distant person of Queen Anne, either. The Queen simply existed, and as far as Rajani could tell, she had done well enough with her duties. Then there was that bloody noble who had pulled her into his own schemes, whatever they were. Suddenly, she had a tie to the court and a vested interest in the monarchy, albeit in a rather distant way. Then Soibhan had come along and Rajani found herself aligned just to the side of the Queen, ready to act should she and her pet Spirit fail to adequately protect the country from harm.

The gypsy doubted that her life would ever be simple again.