The invisible tendrils that had once ensnared Ash in an effort to keep her away had mostly retracted themselves. Instead, she could feel them now trying to pull her towards the fortress, the darkness that had manifested itself within had probed her long enough to realize that it no longer wanted to keep Ash at bay. To Ash, it simply increased her desire to enter the fortress at all costs, which made her all the more anxious and impatient. This made her much more eager to get rid of Rohaan than she was before, and that was saying something. However, the only feeling that she was getting right now was that it was highly doubtful that she'd part ways with Rohaan anytime soon. That made her feel overly exhausted, and an exasperated sigh briefly escaped from her lips. From what she could tell so far, Rohaan was far more interested in this supposed job of his than any hired blade should have any right in being. Of course, that piqued her curiosity by a significant margin, and she imagined that she'd learn the finer details sooner than she'd like. At the moment, she'd let it come when the situation called for it - she wasn't exactly that interested in learning his life story before she could resolve whatever the fuck was happening.

Ash really should have been surprised once she saw Rohaan's eyes, and she was, to a certain extent. She had gone through plenty of nannies over the years that would scare her with monster stories about Shifters, and that had done the trick for the most part. That same travelling troupe that had the magician, also had a young Shifter boy, who could change himself into a whole series of fantastical and exotic birds. He had been the most beautiful boy that she had ever saw, and she developed a bit of a crush on him, though that had mostly passed a few years ago. If she was reading Rohaan correctly, then it was safe to say that he had none of the qualities that the boy from her memories had. In fact, it likely wasn't a stretch to say that Rohaan was the time of person who would happily slit the throat of that boy while he slept. She shrugged at that single thought. At least that meant that the Shifter that she was now dealing with had a bit of honesty to him. Still, her options had clearly narrowed considering she was dealing with a Shifter whose capabilities she wasn't completely aware of. That didn't really change the endgame that she was currently pursuing. If he ever reached the point in which he had to shapeshift into anything so he could subdue her, then that would mean that he had lost. At the very least, Ash would get some satisfaction out of that.

She let Rohaan speak without interruption, she was in a need for more answers after all. In truth, she didn't think she had ever heard his name before or knew who he was. Obviously, it was to no one's surprise that he was a cutthroat, though that didn't really make the current situation any different than it currently was. Durgan was essentially on the very edge of the Empire, whatever happened in the heartlands was definitely none of her concern. Besides, Ash had never been the type of girl to pursue court gossip. Even if there were whispers of a particularly skilled Vokurian thief, she would have never paid it much mind. She wondered if it would damage his ego if she said as much to him?

Rohaan continued to speak, and Ash really had to restrain herself from striking out to break his jaw. She definitely would have done so if the circumstances were even slightly different. Ash glared at him as she found a pile of rocks that were the remnants of an old structure to sit upon. From her pack, she pulled out a strip of dried meat and bit into it. It tasted like leather and had a similar consistency, but it didn't matter. Her stomach was empty. She was progressively growing more and more pissed off. The only father she had ever known was Lord Cassander, so much of what Rohaan was spouting out of his mouth was nothing more than nonsense, in her view. Still, he didn't seem to be a good enough of an actor to improvise to such a degree, and he knew far too many details about her to completely discount.

"Rio, or whatever your bloody name is, you hungry at all?" Ash offered the other half of the strip of meat she had been chewing on before she tossed it to the ground not far from Rohaan's feet. She doubted it would be the first time he ate something off of the ground. She spit out some gristle that was in her mouth before she started picking at her teeth with her fingernail. "How about you tell me who your master is, and I might actually care about what you're saying?" At that, to took a long drink from her canteen.