Indeed it was late, however Norah was not able to fall asleep easily here. Everything sounded different, the beds were surely not as comfortable as the ones in Nevermere, and all she kept thinking about was the way that Ravin had looked at her before she had left, the sadness in his eyes... the shadows casted by his sharp cheeks as they hadn't quite filled in further. Though he always had those sharp cheeks. She thought of the nightmares that haunted them both, and she was afraid of the others that she shared the hut with would hear her one night...

Norah had rolled over for what felt like the third time, curling against Deimos who was in bed beside her, when she heard someone enter the hut they were staying in. She sat up quickly and got herself out of bed, coming out to face Faylin as she seemed to get into the room. "Lieutenant... is everything alright?" Deimos emerged from the shadows behind her.

Faylin drew up short as Norah entered the room and she offered a greeting in the form of a curt nod, her arms crossing at her back. "Lady Norah, I am sorry to bother you so late, but I have information you will want to know... Proof of the brandings."

Blowing out a breath, Faylin recounted how she had come across one of their soldiers trying to speak with one of the Cambrian women, one by the name of Kelder. "He claimed he was the father of one of her daughters, she confirmed as much later, but she will not let him see their child because she is afraid of the ramifications of producing a child with a Nevermere man."

A frown came to Faylin's face and she began to slowly shake her head, "We were talking outside her home and her sister appeared. And her sister had a brand, right on her neck. She said it was for their dirty blood, because she had created a child with one of our men."

The frown turned into an angry grimace as she recalled the brand, how ugly it was on the woman's skin. How it would forever mark her as separate, as an outsider. Faylin knew all too well what it was like to be the outsider and she truly felt sorry for the woman. "They told me they don't know who is doing it. They took her in the night and she never saw their faces. They seem to think it could be our people doing this to them. But they also wouldn't tell me how many others there are or for how long it has been happening. There is vital information missing."

Norah gave a small nod of her head in greeting, watching as the woman almost immediately went into the story. A story that they had gotten in such a quick time that confirmed the rumors that had made it back to Nevermere. That the women were being branded, right on their neck for all to see. Norah had to quickly compose her face as the words 'bad blood' left Faylin's lips. AS if their blood, Nevermeran blood, was tainted in some way.

"This is good though," She finally said, her eyes glancing towards the door that she had entered through. "The information confirms what we suspected. And while I don't want to believe that it was our people, I won't rule that out either. Not until we have names, full answers. But the fact that they are doing this in the cover of night and are hiding their faces... it means they know they can be easily noticed. They can't just not show their face again."

Faylin had noted the various emotions crossing Norah's face as she had relayed her information. She deflated bit by bit as the words left her mouth, as if a bit of tension was tacked on to each. She had held on to some small hope that the branding rumors were false, and to have so quickly and openly learned of them had shocked her a bit.

Still, there was much about the situation that didn't sit right with Faylin, besides the brandings themselves. "I fear that if it is our people, they will not strike again until we leave. I suppose if it is Cambrians, they might also do the same. But they may be a bit more oblivious as to why we are here in the first place." She scrubbed a hand over her face, grimacing with frustration.

"This is all just so wrong and barbaric. I can't imagine what that poor woman is going through, both physically and mentally."

"I have a feeling that while we are here, the activities will stop. Especially since they are already suspicious of why I was sent here." She crossed her arms over her chest, a pose that she would have not have done normally in front of others but she was thinking. "Sending just military would have been one thing, but Isolde knows me," she left out the part that it hadn't gone very well the last time the two interacted.

"It is absolutely barbaric. And quite frankly, it makes little sense. They have always wanted to be separate from Coheed, to not be under their rule. Needing the men there for their children has kept them connected to them. Our men offer them a different freedom. And to shun those who take advantage of that? Absolutely idiotic in my opinion." She stated, shaking her head slightly and then focusing back on Faylin. "Do you think they will talk to me? If I was to come across them?"

"They would be quite bold indeed if they acted while we were here. Although maybe they feel like they have something to prove, and they will make the mistake of doing so anyway. We can only wait and see."

Faylin listened intently to Norah, slowly nodding her head to show that she understood and agreed with her, although... "These women seem to cling to their way of life quite tightly. They don't seem to take to change very well, if at all. Having children with our soldiers is a change in more ways than one. The potential for magic, for one, and the lack of the Coheed strength. They are a different type of offspring, perhaps they find them... wrong?"

She shook her head at Norah's question. "I am not sure... Kelder, the one who wasn't branded, was quite insistent that I be smart about whatever it was I was going to do with the information. They might speak with you, but only if they are certain no one else is around... Just be careful, if you plan to seek them out."

She paused, thinking for a moment before she asked, "Do you think we could undo the brands? Surely there is some kind of potion we could make for them, something that could at the very least make the brand less noticeable..."

"Well, they need to embrace the change. We have done it plenty for their sake." She said it with a slight edge to her tone, as if she was a tired parent who was over her children bickering about the vegetables that were on their plate. "They have sought to separate themselves from Coheed for so long and yet they are clinging to the old ways. We have offered them a new way of life and they fight us tooth and nail on it. After we saved them from being forced back into being just breeding cows and wives."

Norah couldn't wrap her mind around it. She made note of the name that Faylin shared and then tucked a piece of dark hair that fell forward. "I will, everything I have to do is discreet here." And back in Nevermere. She knew what it was like to live a double life, especially with Ravin back... she felt a ping of deep longing when she thought of him. Of his too hollow cheeks and the way his voice soothed her soul. She wondered what he'd be like when she made it home...

"We could," she glanced towards the trunk that had many supplies in it if used the right way. "But removing the brand... would outright tell whoever is doing this that we know and are here for it. Maybe after some ground work... we can leave them something to take it away. Healing potion, I am sure." Deimos seemed to want to leave the room, his dark head coming from the darkness of Norah's room to peer out with those almost glowing amber eyes. "We can make that happen."

"Faylin," she turned to the lieutenant. "I need you to watch out for Kasper. More than ever."

Truthfully, Faylin found nothing wrong with the old ways the women were attempting to follow. It was their culture and their way of life, but to be so strict in it that they would harm their own people just simply didn't make sense. But, then again, it was not her job to make sense of it. She was simply here to collect information.

She nodded at Norah, "Of course. I didn't mean right away, just maybe after this entire situation is sorted, we could help them. If they wanted it."

Norah's warning about Kasper had Faylin's eyes darkening, her tone sharpening, "If they are smart, they won't dare lay a finger on him." She left the unspoken threat hang in the air. Faylin had a temper on the best of days and she knew she would have no mercy for someone who tried to harm Kasper.