Jai laughed softly when the man before her said he would be commanded by no one, especially not a woman, "I command none Stranger, I merely offer the hospitality of our small city. If you do not wish to partake of the food and rest offered I would be the last to try and force you. Followers of Lyr'in do not believe in forcing any to a path they do not choose freely for themselves."<br/><br/>Watching him slide from his horse she watched him closely, never lowering her eyes despite his attempt to intimidate her into doing so. She made no move to stop him from lowering the cowl of her robe and didn't so much as shudder when his eyes traveled over her body. She was no virgin to shrink from the gaze of a man. She was aware that men like this visited brutality, humiliation, and death on those whose paths they crossed, but she worshiped Lyr'in and  believed in the balance of all things. If her suffering restored some balance to the world, so be it.<br/><br/>He didn't frighten her and she let him see that in her calm, peaceful, gaze.<br/><br/>Once the horses were handed off she led them to the Great Hall. She didn't comment on the excitement with the boy, simply giving everyone calm eyes, though underneath a thread of annoyance wound it's way through her heart. This man was clearly a brute, a barbarian and yet she knew her peaceful city would bend to his whims. It was their way, but it didn't always make her happy. Life wasn't about being happy however, it was about balance and as she walked she concentrated on that fact, drawing in slow breaths and releasing them while in her mind she repeated The Prayer for Peace.<br/><br/>At the Hall doors she opened them and held, allowing their "guests" to enter before her as befitted the rules of hospitality. Once inside she guided them to the table where Jin sat awaiting their presence, and moved back behind Jin, kneeling on a pallet there and not partaking of the meal. Now was the time for the men to talk, Jin would seek her counsel when the time was right, until then she knelt quietly but didn't drop her gaze. She might be kneeling but she wasn't subservient, she was the High Priestess and if it came to it, she would outrank Jin.<br/><br/>Watching the brute manhandle one of the serving girls she spoke softly, her voice lyrical and calm carrying just and edge of censure in it, "If you do not let the girl chew, you won't know if she dies because of poison in the food, or because you simply made her choke on it." Looking to the girl she spoke kindly, her voice soothing and under it the girl relaxed despite Kev's brutal treatment, "Lyr'in an nai, ja denair am keth."<em>Lyr'in is all, bend as the reed.</em><br/><br/>Looking to Jin she placed a hand gently on his shoulder, feeling the stiffness in his spine and letting her words be for him as well as the serving girl and felt some of the tension slide out of him, even more drifting away when she spoke softly to him, "They are guests and owed our hospitality even if they abuse it so. In the end Lyr'in brings balance to all things, and all men."<br/><br/>Jin nodded and looked to the men at his table, drawing a deep drink of the mead in his cup, mead that had been poured from the same jug that had filled the other men's goblets, "Jai is correct, you are our guests, no harm will come to you under any roof in Jenta. We are a peaceful people, bending as the reed before the storm and laying grievances before the turning of the Wheel. Speak freely what you wish of us and if it is ours to give you will leave here with it in your possession."<br/><br/>His words were heartfelt but also practiced. They were words that had been spoken to more than one tyrant, more than one conqueror come to claim the ripe fruit that was the fields of Jenta to supply their hoards. All that came left with what they wished and most forgot the quiet people who bent so easily to the whims of others. None realized that in bending they survived as themselves. Few died though some were taken as slavesand never had they ceased to be who they were. While others fought and were broken, ground down or stamped out, those in Jenta remained, Jenta remained, unbroken, untrampled, and always as they had been.<br/><br/><br/>