And he will comply with her suggestion, moving a little stiffly on account of picking a fight with a red Templar, and stubbornly refusing to let it slow him down.

"Traditionally that's how it goes," comes his good-natured reply, taking a moment to study her face, to figure out what it is she's thinking, though he's happily already concluded he's not got much chance of that, and he's all right with it. "I'm not making any argument with you, there. Just in my experience politicians don't always care that much about the citizens, the practical parts, and all. They like their figures and their promotions and the pretty paintings of places they've never even bothered to visit."

And a nod to the general...ness that is the Emprise, right now. "Hard to reckon the likes of the Empress would have laid eyes on this place, for example."