"Watch your pockets, young master." As the wizened warrior walked, she held one hand near the hilt of the sword she kept tucked into her sash. Her fingers brushed the pommel occasionally, as if she was anxious it might disappear. "I've known cutpurses in this city to take a man's belt without him noticing. There's an arm's race in this city. Between the citizens, the guards, and the criminals. They adapt to each other constantly, just like wildlife does, and just like the nations that make up the empire do. You must be wary, particularly when you rule your clan. Things have a way of escalating, and the only way back down is destruction. Illuim built skyships, and then so did Thara. They used them against Osmad, and they in turn adapted." They were walking through the Lan shipyards, having just arrived from an Illuim owned chartered ship. She gave a brief glance to the behemoth that took up the entirety of one of the docks. She pointed to it as she walked, but otherwise didn't seem too impressed, "Thara has the largest airship in the world, but only for now. Eventually, us, or Osmad will outdo it in size. And then Thara again. Until a war destroys all of our navies and we start from scratch." She stopped and looked at him, "That is a truth that I think is best understood here in Lan, Saizo. The empire tries to slow it, for as long as they are on top. When you rule, you would do well to watch the Tharans, they have owned the world for a very long time. Longer, I think, than any group ever has." 

She brushed her sword again, and frowned. A man in a cloak, with an unusual sword on his hip walked by. She watched as he walked down the dock and met with a captain by his ship. Her frown persisted as she turned back on her path and kept walking. "It's late. What do you think?" 

This was a habit of hers. Though she was his guide and his teacher, she let him make all decisions. She often tried to influence them, sometimes in remarkably subtle ways. It was her way of teaching him to lead, and to avoid those who might manipulate him.