Zevran didn't want to be here. He didn't want to be wandering the grounds of this giant palace. He didn't want to be under this cloudy, miserable sky. He wanted to go home, back to Dresmond. If Cassian was going to refuse them, he wished he would decide to do so quicker. They could go back and figure something else out. But instead, him and Kezia were still here, under constant watch.

He glanced back down at the two guards that trailed him. Gerard and Matilda, he had learned their names were. They were to be with him at all times, even while within the palace walls. Being constantly watched only added to his foul mood. But he didn't want to sit around mooping. It only made the days drag by slower. So instead, he wandered the grounds. Sometimes with Kezia, sometimes by himself.

Today he came upon what must have been the training grounds for the Nevermere military. A few soldiers were doing their thing, but one in particular caught his eye, particularly because she was basically hanging off of an axe that was buried in a post. Raising an eyebrow, he moved a bit closer to her before coming to a stop. Rune sat at his feet, tilting her head as she stared at the woman.

"Having some troubles?" he asked innocently.

Zevran cracked a grin and shook his head as the woman climbed down from her perch on the pole. He glanced down at Rune, just barely keeping himself from rolling his eyes at the pride that was rolling off the fox from being called cute. "Yeah, I guess she is. Her name is Rune."

Looking back up at the woman, he smiled at her as well. "And I'm Zevran. Did you need some help with the axe?" he asked, motioning towards the weapon still buried in the pole.

Offering Zarha a cheesy grin in return, Zevran moved forward and grasped the handle of the axe. "Instead of trying to pull it out of the wood, try pushing and pulling first to wiggle it free."

He demonstrated, putting all his wait on the handle to push it towards the beam and then pulled it back towards him, working on it until the axe finally popped free from the wood. He took a moment to study the weapon, testing the edge of it for any damage before handing it back to her. "So, axes? I thought you Nevermerans were all about your swords?"

Zevran leaned against the post the axe had just been stuck in, crossing his arms lightly across his chest, an easy smile still on his face. "I agree, though you're the first Nevermeran I've met who has seem to have actually wanted to stand out."

The word "witch" caught his attention. While Alys had explained some of her abilities, she had never used that term to describe herself. He wondered what other details she had left out. "A witch, huh? Is that what you call yourselves?" It was a question of genuine curiosity. If he was stuck here, he might as well fill his time with learning about the people.

Zevran listened intently to Zarha explain their magic. It all made sense, as he recalled Alys giving her own blood when using her magic. "Dark" magic indeed. And yet, the women who used this so called dark magic did not seem all that dark themselves. It was interesting.

Then she mentioned werewolves and one of Zevran's eyebrows raised, his eyes widening slightly at the same time. "Wolves? Men can turn into wolves here? Is it all men?" Alys had not explained that part. In fact, she had avoided speaking about Grant and his abilities at all, making him out to be just your regular soldier. "But you said only you witches can turn them into wolves?" And he thought the magic of Dresmond was hard to explain.

The reason Nevermere was considered to be so powerful was quickly becoming apparent. Their women were incredibly powerful on their own, but to also have men that could turn into beasts at the women's behest? A terrifying concept.

"So does every witch get paired with a male soldier then? It seems like it would be good to have as many pairs and wolves at your disposal." He wondered if it was anything like the bond him and Rune shared and what it would be like if Rune could also turn into a person.

Rune didn't seem as pleased with the idea of being a human. He waved a hand towards her, "You know, the magic us Dresmondi's are said to have actually come from our dyrs. We have the bond with them, but they're the ones who manipulate the element." He paused, considering before speaking again, "I'm assuming you probably know as little about my kind as I know about yours, apologies if that is a wrong assumption."

He nodded as if he understood, but he really didn't. What stopped every witch from getting paired? And who paired them? But he quelled his questions, deciding it was something he just wasn't going to understand.

Zarha's interest in Dresmond was much more of an interesting topic anyway and he smiled at her rapid fire questions she through at him, chuckling when she finally quieted down. "Don't be sorry, I like talking about Dresmond. It helps with the homesickness."

He ran a hand over the stubble on his chin while deciding where to start and what to say. "Dresmondi aren't born with any magic. When Dresmondis turn twelve they go through a ceremony- er, well, they used to go through a ceremony where they fall asleep within the ground in a place we call the Cave of Names. In this sleep, they're able to find their dyrs and they awake and crawl from the ground with them. Then the dyr names them. If they don't find their dyr, the earth claims their bodies."

He shifted his weight on his feet before continuing. "Sorry, that was a lot of information. Either way, the medallion that enabled our children to fall into their sleep has long gone missing, so there haven't been any new dyrs in Dresmond for quite some time now." He shrugged lightly, as if he could shrug off the end of his peoples' way of life.