Bureaucracy. Of all the things she hadn't missed on the road.

Lily raised one hand in the air, using the other to slowly lower the sword to the ground. However, she also planted a foot gingerly on top of the sheath—she wasn't going to use it, but she also wasn't about to just let some grease-fingered night watchman make a grab for it. The kitchen knife was carelessly tossed down next to it.

[color=DDA0DD]"My name is Lily,"[/color] she answered as soon as it was clear she was out of stabbables. [color=DDA0DD]"Lily Madyne. We come from the—the road beyond the forest, as Travelers do, and we had no intention—[i]OI.[/i]"[/color]

As soon as the threat against Meryn was issued, Lily took a step to the side, pulling Spook's sword along with her foot—just enough to recapture the attention of her guard but hopefully not provoke a panicked response. Her conciliatory manner had all but vanished, leaving steel in its wake.

[color=DDA0DD]"She can't speak, [i]sir,[/i] but I am so glad that your first reaction to someone who seems to be just as frightened as you are is to threaten them with death,"[/color] she snapped. Her hands fisted at her sides before she thought better of it and folded them across her chest—and conveniently brought her hands closer to the paper sigil still hidden down the front of her shirt.  She turned back to the guard before her. [color=DDA0DD]"What I said was only the truth. We did not lead this menace here, we only seek shelter from it, the same as your citizens. The citizens you protect."[/color]

When they still stared at her through narrowed eyes, Lily rolled her eyes and dropped her arms, waving one hand in an expansive gesture. Blunt logic and flattery, then. [color=DDA0DD]"Sirs, if you will believe nothing else, if we had intended to bring harm to your city, why would we sequester ourselves inside? If our goal is destruction, why allow ourselves to be destroyed with you? The answer is simple—that's [i]not[/i] our goal. We Travelers were caught up in this without warning just like you—and your walls, so well-defended and secure, were and [i]are[/i] our best hope."[/color]