"Thank you, ser."

She gets started on that. 

"I hope Arendae didn't give you too much of a hard time."

"I think it was a productive conversation."

It doesn't take that long to get his armor off from there. Thall, Woljif, and Ember seem to have already gone to sleep for the night, though Nenio is attempting to find more people willing to (fail to) answer her questions about topology.

Presuming Thall and Woljif are the only present occupants of their room with the fourth bed left to Nenio's eventual sleep, Blai will go let himself in and go to bed.

As usual, he's woken a little before dawn by Anevia. She beckons him out of the room, looking slightly alarmed.

"What's the matter?"

"You know Joran Vhane? The blacksmith, Staunton's brother?"

"...not well??"

"He's missing. No one's seen him since last night. Do you think you know him well enough to target a Sending?"

"...probably, I have seen him, I'd recognize him."

"Alright. Apart from that, I think the main thing on your agenda's going to be speaking to the Queen's people and attending her announcement in front of the troops. —She did ask me to pass on that you should be prepared to give a short speech after her announcement, in case there's spells you'll want to have prepared for that."

"...how short can it be." He can say he is certain that the Worldwound is possible to close. He has it on good authority that's a thing he should go around saying. That's one sentence.

"A few sentences is fine, we don't go in for the kind of speeches that take hours and hours."

"How many is 'a few'." He has one. One is not a few. It is few but it is not a few.

"Like, four or so? It's fine if most of them are about the 'bravery of the Mendevian people' or that sort of thing. I'd tell you to ask the Count for help but even odds he'd try to slip in an innuendo."

"I am not certain the bracers that let me speak Hallit are competent to let me catch that. What other things are of that sort."

"'The task ahead of us is hard but I believe you can do it,' except phrased in less of a gloomy way. If it's simple enough and not a secret, talking about why the next step is important in the grand scheme of things is usually pretty safe. Sometimes it goes over well to talk about how the people who're part of it will be treated as fancy heroes in the afterlives, but I think I'd skip that if I was you, it's hard to do it in a way that's definitely true and doesn't step on anyone's toes."

"How dreadful is it if when the time comes I have one sentence and, uh, brandishing the angel sword."

"Probably fine for the troops, not ideal if someone copies it down to circulate around. 'Course, it's even harder to guess what'll play well if it's getting passed around on paper in Nerosyan, yet alone Absalom..."

"I'll... think on it... and see what I can do..." AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

"...Might be worth asking for a couple Eagle's, one for giving the speech and one to write it."

"Perhaps."

"Well, I've got to go make sure we've got coverage for everything Joran was supposed to be doing today, but catch me after prayers if you need me."