Ellion shook his head. "It's less that you didn't know and more that he did it in the first place. I didn't think you had gone so far north to mingle with Imperium mages." He tried to keep the coldness from his tone, but there was a certain chill regardless. From his perspective it seemed as though Lana had rushed on to the next man she could find, and a handsome, charming one at that. Here he had been trying to make an effort to become the man she'd used to care for, but she already had one.<br/><br/>He rolled his shoulders and took a deep breath, mentally shaking it off. "It doesn't matter anyway. If he can get us to the Marches and on the trail toward the monster we need to find, well, all the better." Ell gripped his spear and leaned on the shaft, looking away from her and at the house Thane had offered, then back at the town. "I wonder about whoever owns this building, though. In a town this size the owner would have to have some clout. I wonder if your Imperium friend didn't commit some sort of treachery to secure it." He glanced at her. "Isn't it true that they encourage blood magic out there?"