The gardens sure were nice, but they weren't here to appreciate the views. Nor could they, this mission they were on was far too heavy on the mind. Where one might see beauty Caelan saw a potential place where a confrontation might happen. Where their cover might be blown and the guards come after them. Or, worst case scenario, where that Fiona woman found them. If it came down to a fight here he was skeptical if they could even retreat, never mind win. No, they had to do their absolute best to stay hidden and keep up their cover, otherwise this was all over. Like hell he'd meet his end in some courtyard anyways, there wasn't even anything to steal here!

Walking out onto the pathways they had a moment where no one noticed them, and Caelan almost dared to think they would go undisturbed. That quickly changed when a voice called out to them, commanding and blunt in its tone. One look at the man and he could tell he was some big-wig around these parts, he certainly carried himself as one. All of that glamor and design in the armor meant nothing to the mage though he was smart enough to assume the man himself was higher up in the chain, probably commanding a decent amount of respect. Had they seriously been found out this quickly?

What should they do? Fight? He was just one man, and from their entrance he hadn't noticed any others, surely they could beat him right? Between himself, Link and Regol they ought to be able to do it swiftly and without being noticed, carry on and hope for the best. Caelan nearly began to prepare a spell before the man spoke again, taking pause and hearing him out. So he recognized Regol then, but not in a manner to cause alarm. In fact it seemed that they were saved by the fact he was in their presence, go figure. He hadn't a clue what the man was on about even if he could guess who the heretics were. If the situation were not so tense he might have laughed at that, finding the irony to be too great. They just might be in the clear unbelievably enough, perhaps this wouldn't be so bad.

"Fiona...?" It was under his breath he'd muttered it, yet even in that utterance Link could probably pick up on the sense of dread. Absolutely not, if they were seen by that woman then it was as good as over, they had to avoid her. Glancing briefly at the other boy he swallowed nervously, looking then to Regol who seemed to be gesturing. Was that what his plan was? Well it was a long shot, but it was probably their only shot too. He just hoped he was a convincing enough liar to pull it off.

"If it's all the same sir, Brother Regol would like to rest first," Caelan interjected, unsure what to do with himself as he spoke. Keeping his eyes off of the captain he straightened up, clearing his throat before continuing. "We're all exhausted from the journey, him in particular as he fought to see us safe. We'd like to request time to settle in before we see anyone. Surely Fiona doesn't mind waiting a little longer, if she doesn't even know. Even just an hour would do, time to hang up our boots and breathe." It wasn't a complete lie, they really were exhausted from the day's events. Caelan just hoped he'd been able to twist that enough to make the captain buy it.