Jillian’s eyebrows perked up almost in the same instant that Gerald’s body twitched seemingly involuntarily the moment her hands made contact with Omni. He said nothing, no protest against this uninvited touching of his belongings – in fact, the most valuable of all of his possessions, barring perhaps the demon prison – but the witch could tell that he hadn’t expected nor wanted it. He must have harbored strong feelings of possessiveness over the object which she so gently caressed now, unperturbed by his reaction. After all, he had chosen not to bring it up and she wanted to play along, pretending she hadn’t noticed. Only, a part of her grinned with devious glee inside, reveling in the knowledge that she could extract such a visible and strong reaction from him with but the gentle stroke of a finger.

Gerald explained that he had never been to Pelgaid, let alone the dark, beating heart of it, before. Apparently, the tribunal had come to him instead, which itself was surprising to her, not only due to the fact that they had chosen him of their own volition, but that they could leave their cursed realm at all. She thought the very reason Pelgaid’s capital was located such as it was, was to form an impenetrable barrier to the necromancers and their ilk. If they could leave and train apprentices in the outside world, then what purpose did the city even serve now? Perhaps it still kept the worst of horrors at bay, but even that seemed more speculation than fact now. The witch was no proponent of the ban on necromancy (or other outlawed schools of magic), but she was very willing to believe that the things locked up in the realm of eternal night were better of remaining that way. Magic was only ever a tool that could be used to accomplish both good and evil, but Delian and her followers almost certainly had less than the good of Rodoria on their minds. Especially now, after their lengthy imprisonment, if indeed they still were prisoners at all.

“I wasn’t aware that the tribunal could leave Pelgaid,” she looked and gestured towards the city’s silhouette, “I thought the very purpose of the capital was to keep Delian and her tribunal safely locked away.”

“But if you didn’t go to them,” her gaze swept back to him, her voice now suspicious, “then why did they seek you out specifically? I imagine you had to make some kind of promise to them? I very much doubt they would go through all that trouble just to do you a favor. Aren’t you a little wary of them? You say you gave them nothing in return, whilst receiving your training and a powerful artifact. Surely they’re either planning their revenge, or you are playing into their hands unknowingly. Either way I’d find that concerning.”

Or, she thought of a third option, he was lying to her. Perhaps he didn’t want to tell her the extent of his involvement with the tribunal, or simply didn’t think her ready. She didn’t want to assume this, but it was a possibility she had to be aware of. Gerald had proven to be very deliberate in how he treated her and what he told her. There was no telling just how much he was still hiding from her, and why.