Regan’s tug toward Cassian was constant, her attentiveness just short of obsession. Warren’s rebuke, Grant’s absence, Aldrich’s deployment…anyone who’d ever meant anything to Regan was gone by choice or circumstance. Cassian was the only constant: the only one who remained. Over the course of only a few short seasons, he’d become her entire life. So, naturally, when he called, the door was open almost before he’d even finished speaking. Regan stepped before him, hands behind her back, trying to keep her stupidly eager smile from her face for something more neutral (but only mostly succeeding). 

That half-smile did not falter when her assignment was delivered. Regan liked to be useful, and moreover the implicit endorsement and vote of confidence that came with it. The opportunity to please.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Regan replied with a slight nod. She didn’t ask for further details, assuming they were yet to come.

This was part of why Regan and Cassian were working well. She was eager to please and she didn’t question him. This far she’d proven capable of accomplishing the tasks he’d given. She was everything he wanted in a Huntsman.

“The Eldouir have returned to Lorendale,” as they both knew, “leaving Dresmond undefended…” he hesitated, hoping to see a frown on her features or some sign that she disagreed; either way, he’d add, “…by the strongest Eldouir, as rumor has it.” They’d be fools to think it wasn’t guarded. “I want a through report on the exact state of things. We have Zevran there on the inside. You will meet with him and set eyes on all you can.” There was a weight to his words. He didn’t trust the Dresmondi. He trusted Regan.

The Eldouir have returned to Lorendale. That statement alone was enough to fade Regan’s smile and have her raise an eyebrow instead. That brow was joined by the other in a skeptical arc at the start of Cassian’s sentence…one that he finished in a way more in keeping with his cautious nature. Regan decided that it had been a joke — or at least, an attempt at it — which she liked very much.

The mention of Zevran did make her grimace a little. Regan’s last interaction with the Dresmondi had almost come to blows. She trusted herself to put it aside and be civil, but she did not have confidence that he would do the same.

“Am I permitted to make contact with Dresmondi beyond Zevran? Limited contact, but...” Regan asked, starting to piece the operation together in her head, “Just so that we are, er, keeping our options open. Not putting all our eggs in one basket.”

One whose bottom might not hold.

Cassian’s eyes flickered, just a breath of a moment, ignorable to most but surely noticed by Regan. It captured the flash of a thought that he had, the one that betrayed momentary surprise at her question. More than that, surprise at a quickly summarized conclusion that she didn’t speak as a woman who knows she is trusted speaks. Cassian’s response could have made the sentiment clear, but he said,

“Of course.” How much longer might an I trust you have traveled? To be determined another time, surely.

Regan didn’t quite understand the why behind the flicker in Cassian’s eyes. All she could see was evidence of a misstep, of some small failure. It was enough to redden her cheeks with faint embarrassment and frustration at her own…what, exactly? She wasn’t sure. All that mattered was that Cassian didn’t like what she wasn’t self-aware enough to see. So, Regan decided, it was better to keep her mouth shut. She nodded once, running a hand through her hair before tucking it behind her back again.

“I will make ready.”