[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/BjtZNtv.png[/img][/center]
[color=ed1c24]Location[/color]: Hdur, Kindeance.
[@A5G][@Randomness][@Pakde]
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[i][color=ec008c]"Thank you. I am Jazdia Crystalspark, I assume we know each other already."[/color][/i]

Veronica actually didn't, but that ignorance wasn't one she was necessarily focused on curing at this present moment, off-topic as it was. The name rang a bell at least, but the answered stayed on the tip of her tongue long enough to get swallowed by the processing of the rest of the conversation.

[i][color=ec008c]"Miss, your assessment intrigues me, you vehemently recommended us to depart immediately with consideration for the Prince's survival. I must say I doubt it. If the information is as crucial as you suggested so much it would force the capturers to take drastic action, then how can we know the prince is not already dead now as we speak? Why don't we hear about it already? What could be gained from killing the monarch silently and dumping his body on a river hoping his vengeful father would lose interest in hounding the killer's trails?" [/color][/i]

[color=ed1c24]"The answer to most of those questions, as I'm sure you well know, is that we simply don't know,"[/color] the pale girl sighed. Fiddling with the pencil tucked atop her right ear, she frowned. [color=ed1c24]"For all that we've learned, we still have yet to uncover one of the most crucial aspects of this whole mystery: the enemy's ultimate goal. If it were simply to start a war, they could kill the Prince and be done with it, parade his body and let the bloodshed commence."[/color] She leaned forward again, folding her hands and resting her elbows atop the table, as her eyes bored holes in the marked map. [color=ed1c24]"For all we know, that [i]could[/i] still be the goal, and they simply plan to do so at a more strategically expedient time. Knowing they're compromised might push them to accelerate their timetable."[/color] Massaging the bridge of her nose, she shook her head. [color=ed1c24]"Given how little we know, it wouldn't be wrong to plan for the worst-case scenario. Anything is on the table."[/color]

[i][color=ec008c]"The perpetrators are not stupid. The prince is a valuable political tool. I don't think they would waste their bargaining chip just because they heard some group of people are commissioned to search for the crown prince. Hell, even if Fredricus mobilize his entire army to the perpetrators' stronghold they would know it better to keep The Prince alive to be used for parlay."[/color][/i]

[color=ed1c24]"I don't disagree. The Prince [i]is[/i] valuable,"[/color] Veronica nodded. [color=ed1c24]"But they do not have to kill him to potentially do worse, and even then, his death as a means to an end is not even close to outside the realm of possibility. The enemy isn't foolish. This entire affair was executed with applaudable precision and competence, particularly in their capacity to deny investigators information and disappear. Given that, I'm inclined to expect then to engage in more of the same if they catch wind of someone being on their tail. If Fredricus sent an army, I quite doubt they'd be there to recieve it."[/color]

[i][color=ec008c]"The well-prepared trap is unavoidable, it's still a few hours ride without stopping and if the news were relayed yesterday, they had the entire night to prepare their welcome mats. I'd say departing now and tomorrow morning would not make any difference, except we will be less ready the sooner we get there."[/color][/i]

[color=ed1c24]"I suppose it is..."[/color] Veronica sighed, briefly running one hand down her face, before settling her chin down on the back of said hand, elbow propping it up from the table. She'd been consumed with what-ifs and has-beens for the past number of hours. It was hard not to let herself slump at that, as she forced herself to maintain her composure and straighten up. Everything about the very concept of walking into a prepared trap offended her shinobi sensibilities on a fundamental level. The fact that it was now nearly guaranteed to be a near future burned nearly as much as the sun.

[i][b][color=00a651]"It is not only my informant, Lady Veronica. Half my team are in various state of injury from a recent battle. As much as I hate delaying, we'll be in much better shape for battle comes tomorrow."[/color][/b][/i]

[color=ed1c24]"I-"[/color] Veronica shook her head in frustration, before nodding in acquiescence, solidifying her recomposure. [color=ed1c24]"I understand, Dame Matilda. I apologize for speaking carelessly. Sometimes... No, it's unimportant. I believe this is a case of 'missing the forest for trees', as it were. I will attempt to be more mindful."[/color] She didn't feel she needed to elaborate openly further to Matilda of all people. For Veronica, an undead, as much as she might try to stay connected with mortal life, there were some things she simply couldn't sympathize with any longer, hadn't been able to for years. What would have been a devastating injury on someone else was an inconvenience to her. And exhaustion? Sleep? What were those? Did they taste good? She was being impatient. She knew it. She was being driven by frustration and injured professional pride over the mission's compromised integrity. She acknowledged that too.

Sometimes, given the way she had been trained, it could be remarkably frustrating to deal with operating with a large group using conventional local tactics. Her training told her time was of the essence, that she should take her compiled clues and go alone, at least scout out the opposition at a minimum... But she wouldn't do that. With anti-scrying measures in the mix, it was possible she'd overlook something dangerous. Going it alone was too reckless, no matter the potential benefits. She wasn't in a good position to be a one-woman army, and if the enemy had already received warning even before she managed to reach them independently of the larger group... that's exactly what she would likely have to be, while somehow simultaneously safely exfiltrating with the Prince in tow.

So, she would-

[i][b][color=00a651]"Still, there's no need to commit to an extreme. We can depart in a few hours after taking care of the preparations, we do lack the horses to make the trip. Spend the night elsewhere, or simply camp out. Come the morrow we'll be much closer to our objective, wherever it may be. Hell, it'll probably afford us enough time to check both in worst case. Is this agreeable?"[/color][/b][/i]

Veronica perked up a bit at that. Given the possibility of serious injuries, the fact that they would ultimately be in traveling shape -well, if not in full shape, then hopefully on the road- by tomorrow was... Well, it was better than a lot of things. Provided the rest of the group didn't convince Matilda of an alternative course of action, that was better than Veronica might have worried. Ultimately, it wasn't agreeable, and Veronica was sure Matilda could have discerned that even in the absence of an outward reaction from the vampire. It was a compromise, and not even a guaranteed one. But when it came down to it, the orc Guard Captain was still the one giving the marching orders.

[color=ed1c24]"It will have to do,"[/color] Veronica finally voiced diplomatically, expression neutral. Her dissatisfaction was barely concealed, but she wasn't going to pursue this unproductive line of discussion further, at least for now. Besides, now that she was actively considering the state of the team, just based on the intensity of the lingering stench of blood, she couldn't help but feel that she was both being a bit selfish and, simultaneously, unable to truly let that selfishness go. Emotionally driven irrationality, however, was dangerous for a being like her, and so she would avoid acting on it on principle, now that she was conscious of it.