Oh it's so strange to have the Chelish soldiers as allies against people who he should in some sense be closer to.  (Not that he knows this fort very well, or has gotten a particularly friendly impression of it.)  But he does like them.  They're strange and closed-down and protective and he thinks they're good people, in a sense that matters, if not the only one.

He gives them a relieved and much less flailing smile, and ignores the Mendevians for the moment.  "Yes, of course.  I meant her no disrespect and am not about to start."

He gets a short nod from the older man, and the squad leader stands.  "All right, you lot, time we saw to the horses."  He does not actually heave a tired sigh.