[color=goldenrod][i][h2][center]Gerard Segremors[/center][/h2][/i][/color]

[@Crimson Paladin]

That sounded amply close to "yes" that Gerard would take it as such without much worry of alternatives. In any event, competitors from the far east were rare by design, so fleetingly present as they already were in Thaln every other day of the year. Two or more in the right place and right time could hardly be written off as simple coincidence, with that all understood.

[color=goldenrod]"Niece, eh?"[/color] he murmured, idly shifting his weight from heel to heel. [color=goldenrod]"Would I be wrong to hazard the guess that her participation's also part of these 'diplomatic endeavors' of yours, or do we here all serve as a welcome reprieve from something grimmer?"[/color] There was a lightness to his tone that suggested he didn't necessarily mind either answer, but given the brewing trouble the Order themselves were dealing with all through the months previous, his curiosities lingered. Were he not trying to be a good host right this minute, Gerard might have produced a dismayed huff—

The dream of the Valours had been proving a welcome reprieve from the ongoing debacle of the scattered shards of Angoron for [i]him[/i], right until he'd found a way to get it back into his head. His first tourney it might have been, but even in lacking experience he knew it to be just like war in at least one key aspect: when you were the man in the arena, on the day sparks flew, having your mind anywhere else was sure to spell defeat.

He stomped the train of thought back down, hoping he'd not shown the slip up on his face. Not like any of it was this Takashima's fault, it would hardly be fair to let that turbulence bubble over onto him unless he stirred the pot himself.

And that would be handled at the end of their blades, as a show of good friendship.

[color=goldenrod]"I suppose the festivities [i]are[/i] a good locale for people in high places to rub shoulders with one another, while we're all down here having the [i]real[/i] fun..."[/color]