Ariel, who had joined Iroryn in the water, gladly accepted the water skin and drank deeply. The cold water felt like the nectar of the gods in the scorching heat, sweat clearly visible on her forehead. She had been under no illusions that her journeys with the Company would be any kind of pleasant, and this was clearly no exception. But she had swallowed her apparent discomfort, not wishing to be seen as weak by the more senior members who had accompanied them. This, however, did not stop her from releasing her hair from its leather tie, proceeding to dunk her head in the water. When she pulled her face back out, water streamed down her face, leaving wet spots on the back of her shirt as they dripped off the metallic shoulder plates.
	Hearing Stephan's words, she scoffed. "I don't doubt that he's dead, but life is full of surprises. And I'll be damned if I lose out on drinking money because this nobleman happened to be some kind of Ice mage like Ioryn and was able to keep himself cool in this damned heat, or stumbled upon a cache of liquor." What she left unsaid however was that she silently agreed with Olivia. This nobleman's wife must have loved her husband greatly to drop the amount of money that would have been necessary to send them searching for him, and she knew how painful the loss of a loved one was all too well.
	Shaking herself from her grim thoughts, Ariel wrung her hair out and pulled it back into its usual pony tail and tied it up with a leather strap, the tie almost invisible as it blended in with her hair. "Now isn't the time to indulge in self pity. We have a mission to accomplish." She chided herself silenty as she pulled one of her daggers from its leather sheathe, examining the edge for signs of dullness.