"There is another option," Tristan says to Nin, before Mort has had a chance to ride up, "we [i]could[/i] go and find the badger now, after all. If the Beast is what's driving it out of the woods, then this might be our best chance to slay it on fair ground. Leave Pellinor to her hunt, and let us have ours. It's not safe for either of them to live. Pellinor disquiets me, but I see nothing to show why her goals do not align with ours." 

"If our goals align, it'd be best to hunt the beast now, and maybe ask if the King would help us? I am confused as to what virtue there is in saving the beast, or from sabotaging someone who has done us a kindness." 

*

Tristan will not pause to size Mort up before answering, and will immediately reply: "My liege is the common good, in service to all. The hunt for our quarry was interrupted by yours - we seek a badger the size of four horses, at least." Tristan tries to err on the safe side of hyperbole, here. "In truth, I am afraid of it. If we assist you in your hunt, might you assist us in ours?" 

He's a trusting boy, isn't he? 

If he's wrong, let Nin tell him why, that he may trust her more.