Of course, Noble immediately felt silly for disliking Flint's change in demeanor. He was trying to prove himself, and she had treated him poorly.
"He still shouldn't have left the keep," Noble muttered. "He really has no clue how close Syrce was to unleashing her powers on him earlier."
Noble had felt the Saint's emotions in that moment. Even if Noble had tried to quell the anger forcibly, she was unsure if she would have been successful.
That was the tight bond that the two sisters shared. Love made people do crazy things, especially when the person receiving that affection was insulted.
Flint was very lucky that Syrce had accepted his apology. If not, Noble would not have been able to save him. Thankfully, it hadn't come to that.
Finding Roan, Noble relayed the information she had gathered in her conversation with Syrce.
"An advisor? That is strange. I haven't seen the commander converse with anyone in a way that would suggest she is taking their advice. Are we sure he isn't conversing with her via letters?"
"Syrce said he had met me. I don't think she would have said that without a face-to-face interaction." Noble tapped her chin.
"Then who…" the cohort leader looked around at the hive of workers. "And how could we have missed him?"
"I'm not sure, and that is what worries me." Noble shook her head. "I will speak to Syrce as soon as she is done helping Maelys. Until then, we should remain calm. I might be blowing all of this out of proportion, and there is a perfectly logical explanation."
Roan smiled uncertainly.
"Let's hope so."
"What?" Noble could see he had more to say.
"It's nothing. Only, you seem very wary of everything related to Lady Mae. Other than her unique leadership style, is there a deeper objection to her that I am missing?"
Noble thought for a moment before sighing.
Summoning her Memory, Noble handed half of it to Roan.
'Maelys does not like me. She is leaving in the morning. Mae tried to tell me to leave when I was asking about the Advisor, but I got Syrce to agree to send Mae to Lyra instead.'
Roan ran his fingers through his hair. 'That is quite a development. I could see there was a bit of rivalry, but for her to go so far is surprising. I am glad Syrce did not agree. Wait, if Lady Mae is leaving, are her people going with her?'
'I'm not sure, but I hope so.'
Noble looked to see one of Mae's soldiers staring at them. A chill went down her spine.
Had he somehow intercepted their conversation?
The air around her seemed to shift under the soldier's gaze. Something malignant lingered in his eyes.
'Isn't that Mae's lieutenant? Why is he staring at us?' Noble silently directed Roan to look.
'I'll find out.'
Turning on his heels, the cohort leader flashed a smile. "Hello, my good man. Quintos, isn't it? I couldn't help but notice you seem to be waiting for us. Is there something I might help you with?"
"No," Quintos dipped his head, his face changing drastically from a scowl to a look of deep respect.
"Then why were you staring at us?" Roan persisted.
"Not staring. Resting. Goodbye." Dipping his head a second time, the terse soldier headed toward the last of the rafts, which were still being unloaded, only looking over his shoulder once to confirm the two Masters were not following him.
'That was odd.' Roan scratched his head. 'He was lying, of course.'
'Yes.' Noble pinched the bridge of her nose. 'I think Mae has put a tail on me to keep an eye on my movements.'
'The man could have his own designs, it's true, but the timing is suspicious.' Roan frowned, 'You don't suppose he could be the mysterious advisor?'
'That would make some sense. I have met him.' Noble tilted her head. 'But he arrived with Mae. The timing doesn't match unless I am missing something.'
'I do like a good puzzle, but it is a lot easier to complete when I have all the pieces.' Roan felt his head start to hurt.
'We have plenty of pieces. I am just not sure they all go to the same puzzle.' Noble countered.
While Nightmares had one main crux, there could be plenty of other things going on. The world didn't conclude one problem before moving to the next cleanly like episodes of a webtoon. They overlapped and intertwined.
The Nightmare was believed to be an accurate recreation of the past, so the same rules would apply.
What was related to the Nightmare and what was extraneous was hard to tell from one moment to the next, but Noble was determined to get to the bottom of whatever was happening, if only for her own peace of mind.
'I'll find out more as soon as I can.' The promise was as much to herself as to Roan.
'I'll see if I can dig anything up, though admittedly, your connections are better.' The Legacy lamented. 'Charm can only get me so far, and I don't want to cause any trouble with the commander. Flint did enough of that for all of us.'
Noble rubbed the back of her neck, 'Oh, speaking of Flint, I saw him before coming to you. He was exiting one of the storage buildings...'
'WHAT? He was supposed to stay--'
Roan's outburst was cut short as his companion held up her hand. She felt the need to defend the man now that she had thrown him to the wolves.
'He was trying to prove he could be kind and polite. Yes, the action was misguided and the results were absurd, but I don't think he did any harm.'
'When you say absurd...' Roan raised an eyebrow at her.
Chuckling, Noble shrugged. 'Oh, he tried to one-up Aether's level of civility by offering to do my laundry.'
'Y-your laundry? You must be joking.' Roan rested his palm on his chin.
'I am not. He saw a spot on the cloak and offered to clean it.' Noble had brushed off the offending dust before finding Roan.
The cloak could resist a dragon's fire. It was not going to let a little dirt soil it permanently.
'That's...unbelievable.'
'It was bizarre. He was atrociously polite. I hate to say it, but I like it better when he is rude.' Noble pushed back her hair behind her shoulder. 'He even said I looked thirsty and asked if I wanted water.'
'Now you are exaggerating, surely.' A smile played upon Roan's lips.
'I am not," the floating Master held up her hand in solemn promise.
'I have known that man for decades, but I didn't think he had it in him to be so committed to proving us wrong. I am a little sorry I missed it. That sort of performance is something I would like to see.' Roan glanced toward the keep.
Noble looked too, her emotional sense extending unconsciously in that direction.
Her amused expression faded. 'You might get that opportunity sooner than you thought.'
Frowning, Roan rubbed his face with his hand. 'Don't tell me…'
Noble nodded. 'He didn't make it back to the keep.'