Olosse listened to Iris, fixed on her glistening irises as she relayed her concerns about this 'Bludless' group with an undercurrent of what the liege-in-waiting thought was mild anxiety; odd. His personal Shadowguard normally didn't betray emotion easily and even when he could detect a semblance of sentiment, it was quickly suppressed. This 'Bludless' organization must be more powerful than she's letting on, which she all but confirmed by her derivation of "unsubstantiated rumors are just that, your highness"; he knew the semantics of the Shadows well enough by now to translate their rhetoric into more plain speech that a member of the royal family could use. While maybe his father appreciated the downplaying of issues that the Shadows encountered in their intelligence gathering so that he could focus more on his own priorities, Olosse valued the Shadows more than any other group in the Ishmeldian ranks and even more value was placed on the woman across from him. When his father had assigned Iris to Olosse several years ago, the latter was annoyed by the idea of a perceived baby-sitter, but after several official trips across the Continent, he had come to value her council and, in the rare moments he had seen her practice her art, her martial prowess (albeit, he had come in on the very last gasp of action or the aftermath). If he was also being completely honest, he ALSO came to value her...well, it wasn't difficult to conceptualize the kind of physical beauty she was underneath the suit she wore. He was above cracking comments about her attractiveness in form, however; his respect for her position as well as her ability to sever his arteries in potentially a millisecond thwarted any young-blooded remarks. 

"Cannot what, Iris? Speak your mind. If my trusted Shadowguard is having doubts about what we're about to go into, I need to hear them." The road that had once jostled the carriage smoothed out, indicating that they were on the initial approach towards Valkan. The carriages would ultimately follow a gentle slope upward for about a mile before the road straightened out once again and put the entirety of Valkan on display. 
"My liege, we were given instructions to circumvent the main gate and go to the Western entrance. Should we still follow the instructions given?" Olosse chuckled. The Western entrance of Valkan opened up into the wealthiest area of the city and served as the most direct path to the palace as well as a way for all those in the court to get a nice view of the visiting retinue. Naturally, Rakuhor wanted his most influential supporters and his most vicious detractors to see that his plans, no matter what were thrown against them, would succeed. It was a good optics play, one that Olosse appreciated; after all, they would be formalizing their trade alliance in just two days, said formalization also including a pledge of military support for both kingdoms. This would be a first in any treaty Ishmeldia had signed, but Olosse's father, Arel and Olosse himself recognized that having the Vadrudorian Horde (as they called themselves) as allies could only prove to be beneficial if and when Ishmeldia faced war. 
"Yes, follow the instructions." His attention returned to Iris. 
"Say on. Before we get to the Kingdom, I need to hear your thoughts without any filters." A half-smile.
"Don't spare my feelings nor my sensibilities."




Western entrance: ([hider=My Hider][img]https://r2.starryai.com/results/1043069123/15ea2558-a95c-49ae-a20d-8b3425597dc0.webp[/img][/hider])