A pit of unease was forming in Elara's gut, and she was well aware that it stemmed from a lack of control over her own situation. She had worked carefully to build herself a table-ish world inside the walls of the palace, and Adrian was throwing that fragile peace out of wack. The Shadows weren't helping either. Shaking her head, she tugged a hand through her hair once more, a sign of veiled stress, before pulling a key from her pocket. That was what she'd been holding on to earlier, the item that had caught the light. A symbol of something to run to if she couldn't take the world anymore, and a pipe dream.
"It will be alright, Highness." Adrian said. As far as it knew, this helped human, right? The maker had said something about positive affirmation, and it couldn't help but try, right? Adrian stood still, but then slowly moved a hand to brush back a few strands of Elara's hair, doing it as carefully as if it was taming a wild beast.
Elara's steps faltered as Adrian brushed her hair back, her eyes widening slightly. "Wha-" She, for once, couldn't quite seem to figure out a response to that, as she flickered a wide-eyed look over at him. Her first instinct was to jerk away, to shun the gesture as best she could. But a part of her managed to keep her from doing so, at least fully. It was, in fact, somewhat reassuring, if odd and unexpected. "O' course it will…" She finally managed, looking straight ahead once more. "E'ryone's jus' paranoid, is all."
"A justified paranoia. We shouldn't waste any more time, come with me." Adrian said, escorting Elara outside to their departure squadron.
"Justified paranoia." Elara muttered, raking a hand through her hair once more as her eyes flickered from the modes of transport, to the Guards set to come with. Roman wasn't among them. In fact, barely any of her own Guard were. Huffing a sigh, she ignored the offer for help into the carriage in the center, climbing in herself and plopping down onto the bench. "Hey, Matthias! Any clue where the first stop is?"
Matthias, one of the few Guards among the group she actually liked, shot her a small smile as he glanced into the carriage. "Tieran this time around, Magpie."
Adrian clambered into the carriage with Elara, sitting directly next to her. "We'll take the back roads, go through tougher terrain. It will cause some mild discomfort, but will get us to where we need to go."
"Hmph." Was Elara's only response to that, as she pulled her legs up underneath her and scooted to lean against the wall of the carriage. Her bag acted as a divider between her and Adrian, half out of habit and half out of conscious choice. A few minutes later, the carriage began moving, setting them off on their journey.
((Would skipping ahead be a good idea? Maybe even to the attack?))
