Her order did have a high bar. Lunaia's servants had to be dependable and effective, because if they weren't, it was the people who were put in danger, the people who suffered. They had to be able to trust that if a white robed warrior came to them, the threat to them would be put to rest. And Iseldis had failed in that.

She took the waterskin and forced a close-lipped smile, taking a drink. She was frustrated, but she could at least recognize a few things. First, this wasn't truly her fault. Her order was supposed to correctly identify the strength of a threat before sending an initiate like her for a trial. This threat called for a veteran, perhaps a team of them, not a single initiate and an escort. Someone had made a horrible mistake.

Second, she recognized that Roland was attempting to make her feel better. It wasn't really working at the moment, but Iseldis knew that letting despair have free reign wasn't going to help either of them. There would be time to sort things out later, assuming they lived through this.

"Okay," she answered, nodding. "So what's our plan? We've no idea what's out there, but we can't turn back." Caught between the unknown and the witch, Iseldis figured the unknown was the better choice. Or at least the better risk to take.