[color=FF66CC]Adele[/color] had not taken kindly to Djonn's sense of humor. Not kindly at all he thought. He clutched his glaive carefully as he marched along with the caravan, waiting for his body to react to the knife being driven into his back. In the end the only knives that dug into Djonn's back came from Adele's eyes. He'd have to talk to her about that temper at some point, he just hoped things wouldn't escalate. There were many days of journey ahead and he would very much prefer not to have any of his subordinates despise him for the entire duration.

Djonn picked up his step and hoisted himself onto one of the open wagons, startling the two company men who were already aboard. "Don't worry gentlemen I'm the commander of your guard detail. I'm just trying to get a better look at things." Taking a moment to stabilize his footing on the rocking coach he reached into his pack and pulled out Lydia's totem and put it on. The brass was cold against his skin but his vision was suddenly enhanced and narrowed. He slowly panned his head around, scanning the treeline for signs of movement. There was nothing to be seen and he was thankful for it. He continued he doubled up on his vigil when the party was forced to a halt by the felled trees. Putting his glaive aside he drew Lydia's bow and prepared for the worst which also thankfully never came. 

When the caravan stopped to rest Djonn found himself a small tree to rest against after taking a fistful of dried fruit to nibble on. He scanned the caravan, observing his fellow guardsmen on their down time. His eyes wandered to the stream where he saw that [color=FF66CC]Adele[/color] was taking the time to refresh herself, [color=FF3333]Rook[/color] was taking the time to observe Adele which caused Djonn to raise an eyebrow and shake his head, and [color=8585AD]Marcel[/color] had decided to submerge his entire titanic body into the stream which actually surprised Djonn with its depth. In general it was a relatively calming sight compared to the dull panic that had been all-pervasive since they set out on this trip. Thorpe's haggard demeanor still wore on Djonn who closed his eyes in thought. [i]This is a normal caravan job, there's no way that these budget issues were what had Thorpe in such a state. I'll have to have a talk with Gavius when we make camp for the night and see if I can get any info out of him.[/i]

His train of thought was derailed by the sound of an [color=FF66CC]Adele[/color] gone completely ballistic. He opened his eyes to see her throwing a fit at Gavius's assistant. The situation quickly spiraled from there and he could have sworn he heard [color=66FF33]Zacharias[/color] mentioning something about this changing the rates for the mission. [i]Oh gods no, the last thing I want is to get into an arguement with Hemming about money. He would gladly send the entire detachment back to Bellencrest if he thought it would cost him a shilling more to keep us there.[/i] Djonn began to rush over to the slowly growing group to defuse the tenuous situation when [color=FF3333]Rook[/color] stepped in and managed to reign things in a bit. He slowed his pace slightly and made a mental note to commend [color=FF3333]Rook[/color] for his initiative in defusing what could be a messy situation. He made another not to inform [color=66FF33]someone[/color] that it would not be the best idea to to bring up money in front of the Aide of a well known skinflint. As well as another note to have a chat with [color=FF66CC]another someone[/color] to try to and smooth things out.

He reached Gisele just as she explained the plight of Mister Hemming, and now their entire group. He almost spoke up but was beaten to the punch by Adele who had calmed herself a bit and began talking about a next move. He listened carefully, her plan did have merit, but something told him that it wouldn't go over well with his employers. When she finished he found his time to butt in. 

"Miss Gisele, I would like to assure you that your coin has paid for the utmost loyalty of the White Guard for the duration of this operation. All guardsmen assigned to this mission are veteran members of the Bellencrest garrison, some of us have been here since the Greyskin invasions and all of us have been handpicked by the Captain himself. None of us are recent additions who could have been compromised, I can assure you of that Ma'am. I would also like to assure you that while this does indeed change the situation a bit, we can hold off on talking about additional compensation until [i]after[/i] we have seen you safely to your destination." he shot [color=66FF33]Zach[/color] a stern expression before turning his attention back to Gisele and lowering his voice, "Now Madam Gisele, why would anyone have reason to send assassins after Mister Hemming? I understand better than most that the wealthy and powerful are often the targets of rivals, does Mr. Hemming have any foes who may have the power and reach to continue to hunt him so fervently? This information is of the utmost importance for not only Mr. Hemming's life but all of ours as well."

He awaited her response and turned his attention once more to Adele. "I also agree that its dangerous to forge on ahead more or less blind. It would not be unwise to heed your advice and get back on the highroad, though doing so depends entirely on Mr. Hemming's ability to listen to reason, which if what Ms. Gisele is saying is true, we may be doomed in that regard. I will speak to Mr. Hemming about adjusting our path, but for now we need to plan based on the assumption that we are continuing along as planned. It may even be ideal to seek refuge at the Cossler estate tonight as intended. People as powerful as the Cosslers will have at least a small group of armsmen to defend their home and property, and the added manpower would certainly help our odds."