Lantus awoke before dawn, shrugging his armor on before leaving his personal tent and walking over to his command post where he began organizing the patrols for the day. The bulk of the army would be camped here for the moment both to avoid starting a war with Plegia too soon and to not alert any surviving Shepards. After all, an army was rather noticeable, and if they just marched through Plegia, the Shepards would go to ground and possibly flee the country. No, he'd have to flush them out with small units of men. 

But just then, Darrian entered the command tent, and Lantus dropped to one knee, bowing while cursing the man in his head. What was this fool doing? Why the bloody hell was he needlessly risking his life? The army would be seeing combat, and if the Exalt was still present, he would be a priority target. If the Exalt fell in battle, the army's morale would plummet. More importantly to Lantus, though, was the fact that it'd be far harder to take Alicia back with him when he found her. If Darrian was present, then he couldn't just cover up the fact that he spared a Shepard and bribe those who found her to keep quiet. 

[b]"...Your Majesty, why are you here?[/b] Lantus asked, keep his face and tone neutral as he looked up, rising to his feet. [b]"The scouts are only just now beginning their search. I don't anticipate them finding anything for at least a day. If you had further orders to give, surely a messenger would have sufficed?"[/b]

---

Alicia let Phill take the lead as he snuck them in to Plegia's capital, taking in the sights of the city as they walked. The desert city was a far cry from the plains of Ylisse, but she rather liked the cold nights. But as they were lead to a stable, Alicia hesitated in giving the stablemaster the reins to her pegasus. After all she had been through, the thought of not having a convenient means of escape disturbed her. Phill's reassurance that the stablemaster was trustworthy did little to ease her reservations, but Alicia eventually managed to hand the reins over to Greyer after realizing that it'd be far more likely for them to be caught if she was seen walking around with a pegasus. With that done, she turned to Phill. 

[b]"My name is Alicia."[/b] She answered Phill's question calmly before gesturing at her pegasus. [b]"And his name is Bellerophon."[/b] With a wistful glance at her pegasus, she left for the inn with the others. Once they had arrived and had some privacy, she turned to Phill once more. [b]"Anyways, thank you for helping us, Sir Phill. But I have a question: why do this? Why help us Shepards? You could have aided us easily enough by pointing us in the direction of a village. What's in it for you to sneak us in to the capital and not report it to your generals?"[/b] Alicia questioned, rather distrustful. Just because the man had helped them didn't mean that she should trust him or his motives.