Hearing Tehr's response to his request had the Duke hum briefly as he considered the options, before smiling faintly at the time, looking at him in an amused fashion as he spoke up in turn, in a relaxed tone of voice.<strong>"I thank you for your understanding on the matter, and providing me with the options, but I can insist upon them taking this oath, and I believe I would be willing to do so as well if Rosalyn has already chosen to make such an oath."</strong>He had a warm smile on his lips at the time, glancing towards the direction of the seal in the hall, where Tehr had looked before.<br/><br/><strong>"It would not be the first itme I enter myself under an oath, nor them. The servants quarters should suit them fine, and I am willing to cover the cost of their stay from my own coinpurse. They are here because of me, despite the fact I've insisted I am fine but,"</strong>he lifted his arm and shrugged, lowering the arm again, having said as much as he would. Rosalyn was already walking towards them, but at a modest pace with dignified grace, giving them a little more time, and looking good with the two other elves present whom she didn't seem to recognize.<br/><br/><strong>"I hope to bring some news over in an official setting, so the court is fine, but I would appreciate if some of the more sensitive information might be passed along outside of the court afterwards. I am merely informing her as her role as the Monarch, and my duty as a Duke, even if it is mainly on Elven territory, we are still part of her kingdom and thus I believe she should be aware of these things. Yet I would not wish the full information of my own state and wounds to spread or <em>certain factions amongst the traditionalist elves</em> might see it as a good reason to brush aside the <em>progressive</em> view of reaching out towards the human kingdom again, rather than merely paying our taxes and making most of our other business internal, acting like an autonomous region within her kingdom."</strong>He quieted down a bit before smiling and spreading his arms to hug Rosalyn, who stepped up and hugged him tightly.<br/><br/><strong>"I am so relieved to see you are back alright, d-, your grace."</strong>She blushed a bit at what she started to say, while Tehr might notice one of the elven men standing further smiling approvingly, the other looking like he'd just eaten something sour. The blonde elven man looking more relaxed, while the raven haired elf looking at Rosalyn and Tehr in a manner that didn't quite convey<em>respect</em>the same way it did when he looked upon the Duke himself.<br/><br/><strong>"I am tough as a dwarf and twice as stubborn, don't worry, I'm alright. I apologize for leaving you so long here, but I hope you have felt at ease and enjoyed your stay?"</strong>He asked this in a gentle tone, without any accusation or suspicion in his tone, yet he still asked it.<br/><br/><strong>"I have been treated like a honored guest, and like a member of the family. I feel at ease and with Miss Angelique being a half-elf, I have even enjoyed a few treats I thought I'd not find amongst humans during my stay here,"</strong>she answered in a bright tone, a comment that seemed to earn approving hums and nods from both of the elven 'guards' standing a bit back, and a warm laugh from the Duke.<br/><br/><strong>"Oh-hoo, I hope she hasn't been eating you out of house and home my friend, I know her tendency to love honey-buns, and outside of forest I imagine the price of honey to bake any such treats might become excessive very quickly,"</strong>he nudged Tehr with an elbow in a playful, casual manner while Rosalyn blinked and looked a tad embarrassed. Honey buns weren't the treat she'd referred to from what Tehr had seen of their daily meals but she had enjoyed some treats that Angelique cooked for both Tehr and her, on Rosalyn's requests on a few past times. Some of them admittedly being a tad sweet.<br/><br/><strong>"In anycase, please instruct us on the oath we are to take then, my friend. All three of us,"</strong>he said glancing back at the others, and saw the blonde elf nod while the black haired one seemed to frown but then nod less than a second later.<strong>"Also, these are Asra and Jodu, or that's the shortened form of their names they've been using during travels. They are hospitalers, and thus should know to respect the local laws, but I'll go ahead and state ahead of time that Jodu isn't exacly keen on humans right now."</strong>He paused at this point, while the blonde elven man chuckled.<br/><br/><strong>"A drunken man in a tavern we visited along the way pinched his ass mistaking him for a woman,"</strong>Asra stated, making the black haired elf roll his eyes looking more annoyed than embarrassed.