The camp was unusually silent. Or rather, the general area surrounding the stables was unusually silent. It was a horrible place - smelly and cramped and no place for a person let alone for a horse - but usually Rajah could hear the general banter and back-and-forth from the soldiers outside, and it was oddly comforting even though he could barely make any of it out. He could appreciate the silence though, even through Emira’s agitated whickering.<br/><br/>“Shh, Emira,” he whispered to her, giving the horse a firm clap on the neck from his seat atop her back. She was unbridled; Raj had no intention of riding her, but being at his regular perch was a source of familiarity in an unfamiliar place. “Fi angen i fynd adref yn rhy.”<br/><br/>Waves of black tumbled down his back and draped over his shoulders as his fingers dragged through it, attempting to soothe out the mess and knots that had formed. His hair was long now, if it hadn’t been before. Longer than it had ever been by any means, but maybe still shorter than Radu’s had been.<br/><br/>He was halfway through his braid when the first noises broke through the silence. Men passed by the open face of the stables, but Rajah did not look up from his work. Men passed by all the time. It wasn’t until one man turned to three, turned to five, each more frantic than the last that Rajah tied his hair off and slowly slid down from Emira’s back.<br/><br/>Slow and careful steps took him outside, and the previously quiet camp seemed to erupt all at once. Men-at-arms moved quickly with expressions that ranged from grave to alarmed. The young stablehand that was rushing toward him, however, looked nothing short of terrified.<br/><br/>Rajah stuck his arm out as the boy made to rush past him, his chest making a sickeningly hollow sound as it collided with Raj’s forearm. Long, calloused fingers tangled in the already ripped and dirty white tunic, preventing the boy from going anywhere. “What is happening?” he asked, staring ahead and trying to follow the soldiers with his eyes to see where they were going.<br/><br/>“Let [i]go,[/]” the stablehand protested, surprisingly and effectively twisting out of Rajah’s grasp. He watched with careful eyes as stall doors were pulled open, including Emira’s. He made quick strides, slamming Emira’s stall door shut again and provoking a series of startled whinnies from the line of mounts. “The Tutar are within pissing distance, and if this goes south, these soldiers are going to need mounts, and-”<br/><br/>He kept talking, and Rajah let him as he pulled himself up onto Emira’s back. Before the stableboy could protest - or during, he hadn’t been paying attention - Rajah dug his heels into Emira’s sides and they were off.<br/><br/>It didn’t take long to find where the soldiers he’d seen before had congregated. The words ‘unarmed’ and ‘white flag’ were thrown around, and it didn’t take long to understand what they were talking about. Rajah understood a fair bit of nothern tongue, but what he was hearing was nonsensical at best. The Tutar did not surrender. They plundered and killed, and forced entire civilizations to uproot themselves and move to resourceless wastelands. White flags or no, Rajah didn’t buy it.<br/><br/>Rajah pushed through the guard, using Emira’s stocky yet overwhelming build to slip between Lances and footsoldiers until he found Barth and a small militia of sorts, armed with nothing save for expressions ranging from critical to concerned. Rajah watched them prepare to meet with the Tutar, never breaking from his gaze as he slowly slid down Emira’s side. They were preparing to meet with the Tutar unarmed. Even if the only things they wielded were the white flags they hoisted high in name of surrender, that didn’t mean anything. You could still impale someone on the end of a white flag.<br/><br/>“Bydd i eich gweld yn fuan,” he whispered to Emira, though it didn’t help soothe her. She jerked her muzzle from his hand, whickering softly in protest. She was too smart for her own good. He repeated himself anyway, patting her solidly on the neck before joining the others.