[Aynia]

After the conclusion of the War Council, Aynia and her guard rode hard and almost without stop for the almost four day trip, but it was worth it as they made it in record time.

As she passed through the front gates of the merchant city in the early morning hours she was oddly chilled. Pulling her cloak a little tighter around her leather clad shoulders she wondered if the winds from the winter grove were blowing down to Chail this evening or if something truly sinister was in the air...

Guards and ramshackle troops were everywhere near the city walls and gates, mustering up as quickly as they could, with some only being half outfitted. Crates and boxes were being carried through the streets on animal pulled wagons to be put into storage. Chail was normally a bustle of activity, but the normal bustle of shoppers were nowhere to be seen. She breathed a sigh of relief that Carrot had taken things in hand in her absence.

She turns to several members of her guard and instructs them to begin assisting in preparing for the arrival of the troops from Bastion. She takes the remaining few with her to the capitol building, two guards opening the grand doors for her with a flourish. As she steps in she removes her gloves and takes off her cloak, revealing men's clothes underneath, tailored to fit her frame.

Her boots click lightly on the floor as she walks through the building to a side chamber and ungracefully falls onto an overstuffed loveseat before asking a valet to fetch the Regent. She was tired and she was hungry, but they had more important things to discuss. The war wasn't going to wait any longer, and she could use his company. If anyone could help her work through this, it'd be him.