One of the clerics clears his throat. "Everyone. I am sure the chaos and anarchy gripping Korvosa have been quite terrifying and disruptive. In these trying times, we feel new leadership is needed. I am Ricard Santaren, the new Archbishop of Asmodeus in Korvosa. We will make further announcements within the coming days."

He walks inside the temple. The procession follows him.

That is definitely not an announcement that he's claiming the throne. Hmmm. Well, it's not one yet.

Maybe she was wrong. It is theoretically possible she was wrong. This is still incredibly suspicious timing.

She purses her mouth and turns to the Captain. "I hate to say this again, just one day after the last time, but I think the Citadel needs to hear about this. If they haven't already." Sigh. "Probably someone else too, but I don't know who."

Obviously at least the other churches, but the guards will pass it to the Abadarans without an issue, and they can probably talk to everyone quickly. No need for her to mention that. Mother should know but that can wait for her to go home, it sounds like they have at least a few days. There isn't a monarch right now to be informed. Wizards have this habit of knowing things, no point telling them. She's probably still missing someone, but it's not really worth her time to figure out who.

A grave expression covers his face. "Indeed. We must return immediately."

The captain leads them down the Heights. The cross into Midland near its southern end. Soon enough, they're back within Citadel Volshyenek.

The captain heads straight for the Field Marshal's office.

The squad is off duty for now. Tencednil should return to the Office of Spells. Captain Paras will meet her there once he's done with his debriefing.

Hmm.

Did anyone say, or imply, she shouldn't go off and talk to other people? If there was even an implication, she will stay right here. If not, though, she will run back home quickly and update Mother before coming back to the Citadel. It probably won't help to get that message passed now rather than in a few hours, but if she can, she may as well.

Tencednil is being paid for her patrol shift, which is not yet over. She shouldn't leave the Citadel until she's dismissed for the day.

Reasonable. She waits and gossips with the squad, then. Nobody actually knows what's going on, but there is no shortage of speculation.

Around ten minutes later, Captain Paras returns. "The higher-ups have been informed. This matter is out of our hands now. We're going to continue our patrol. I'm sure the papers will be full of this tomorrow morning, but when we're out there keep the discussion to a minimum. We don't want to cause a panic."

She stops the increasingly implausible speculation as he comes in. It's not quite that direct, but a quick shift like she's about to talk gets the next person to hesitate a moment, attention turns to her, and when she glances to the door they follow her gaze, see the captain walking in, and conversation doesn't start back up. It's always nice when things just work out like that.

An energetic nod, and she starts talking before anyone else can. "That sounds good! I'm sure someone will know more by the end of the shift anyway." That should set the tone, and the guards are probably professional enough to wait when they're reminded it's just a few hours and they will have more information to chew on if they do.