[ He truly does remind her of Neshamah, for he, too, waited to see -- to survive -- the last dawn, and escape the pattern.

She offered him a sharp, knowing smile, and does not shirk from his gaze. She meets it, and tipped her head slightly, to give him the full Weight of her golden, ever-haughty gaze. ]

You think I do not expect danger from an unknown source? Don't insult me.

[ It may sound aggressive, but there is a measure of good humor in her tone, as if the thought that she would not plan for such things was laughable. ]

I take antivenoms and antitoxins daily to prevent poisoning. I set wards when I rest, and when I am distracted. If there is anyone here prepared for a knife in the dark, it is I. My people, the Sahelians, were the First betrayal. If I were not prepared, I would deserve my fate.

[ She understands, though, what he means. That there is something lurking. That they cannot know the shape of yet. ]

The factions seem to be a tool, to serve an end. Whether it is the tree that is correct, or them, I do not know. If there is something else ready to give us a new... "direction", then I anticipate disseminating it, finding the cracks that it leaves in both Zenith and Meridian's arguments.

I do not doubt that there is something to watch for, lurking, and waiting for the right moment.