"It's been an experience, Silvio" Rayf smiled, turning to wish goodbye to his short-term mentor. "Whilst our time together has not been long, it's been very.. dense" Rayf despised Silvio. Hated him. Ever since he met the pompous snob in the Palace library to that very moment there in the courtyard he'd hated every second he had spent with him. Silvio had never been made privy to this information, Rayf had deemed it sensitive intel.

"Hmph, quite" Silvio sniffed, clearly unhappy he'd been roused before early afternoon. "If you ever find yourself in Ilvance again be sure to contact me; I have more tests I'd like to attempt"

Rayf paused, his eyes hardening for a second. They quickly softened once more once Rayf managed to regain composure, "Well, as long as you're having fun, Silvio. Be sure to write"

With that Rayf walked away, very pointedly not giving him any contact information whatsoever. The old bugger had clearly wanted to amputate his hands the whole time. Rayf didn't require that extreme a change of wardrobe, he'd already worked on his cover story. He was the youngest son of the family, sent off to learn the ways of the Priesthood when he was but a wee nipper. He stopped next to his grey, speckled horse and gave a leisurely bow in Elya's direction. "Good morning, your grace, it's nice to see I'm not the only one affected by the early hour" He smirked, nodding at the sleeping boy he would one day call king.

"It's good, he should gather his strength" Rayf attached his supplies to the saddle of his horse and hummed tunelessly, awaiting the arrival of the rest of their ragtag group of revolutionaries.

Sir Nicholas had been awake since the even earlier hours of the morning organising his little adventure. He could never sleep a full night these days, he wasn't sure if it was just raw anticipation of something or just the years of screams finally catching up to him. He'd been disconnected the entire morning; sharpening his weapons, checking over long, dry sheets of information and poring over every Alcean map the library contained. None of it would help, but thoroughness quite often had a way of not helping. If there was one thing he'd taken away from his years of experience, it was that fate is law and God is blind.

As the crisp morning air hit him he already had an idea of what he'd be working with. There she was, the young Queen with a sleeping King wrapped in her arms. He didn't recognise the other man; young, lanky, looked like a killer, if he were forced to guess he'd say Resistance. You could always tell a person involved in some kind of revolutionary movement; their eyes tended to be decades older than the rest of their face.

He silently crossed the distance of the courtyard and knelt a few feet in front of Elya, his head bowed in respect and his eyes gently closed. After a few seconds he rose and walked to his horse, slinging his pack over the saddle. "I believe you've been informed of who I am and why I'm here" He said simply, pulling an apple from the leather satchel. "For the purposes of this quest I'd prefer if you just refer to me as Palentine; a Knighthood in this sort of situation tends to be more trouble than it's worth"

He held the apple in front of the horse's eyes until it took the initiative to bite down. "You, fire-haired boy. Your name?"

"Rayf Calderwood. I'd like to say your reputation precedes you.. Palentine, but it doesn't. I wasn't informed you'd be travelling with us?" Rayf walked a few steps towards Nicholas, his head tilted ever so slightly, evaluating whether the stranger was a threat.

"Sir Nicholas Palentine. I win wars" Nicholas turned his head, staring Rayf down. "What do you bring to the table?"

"Infiltration, limitless charm and partial magical ability" Rayf's eyes met Nicholas', "Oh, and a hilarious Janolf impersonation, but you'll have to get me drunk first"

"Hmph" Palentine huffed, moving towards Rayf. "You don't have to try and impress me with dramatic looks and clever wordplay, mage, you're not trying to bed me. One question: will you fight well and will you be discrete?"

Rayf's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, but he nodded. They shook hands, Nicholas staring through Rayf for a second before returning to his horse. Rayf pondered that they weren't off to a great start; Nicholas was happy they had reached an understanding.