Kalaya turns her head up to the sky, seeking something beyond sight in the clouds above. When she breaths, the mist that comes out is the twin to the smoke rising from the farmstead's outer buildings. The sign of a fire damped down with the battle's passing. Her hands cradle a mug of hot tea, a gift from a grateful family.

"It's a bit early to be talking of wholesale war isn't it?" she jokes, speaking loudly to be heard over the roar of the rain. "Unless you're speaking about that coward of a legion commander. In that case, I'm fairly sure that if we'd chased him down, there wouldn't have been any fighting."

Turning, she smiles at Petony.

"I don't know whether Red Wolf is easily misled or if something else is at play. I've never met her. But I do know how things changed when she took over the Redoubt. The Legion restrains itself now because it was too close to provoking outright conflict with the Kingdoms. Whether we would win or not, a war is not something the Dominion wants."

"It's not something we should hope for either." she says, casting an eye pointedly at the singed farmstead. "Fighting would be a toss of the dice, with the only certainty being the lives lost and homes ruined."

"But fighting isn't the only way to win." she says, taking a sip from her cup. "The Flower Kingdoms have a strength of their own that surpasses anything Mars can bring."

Chuckling to herself, she finds she's forced to add one more thought.

"Of course, if it really came to blows, I'm sure the two of us could clear out the Redoubt on our own, right?"