the children reacted, a ripple of reactions. it was to the faces of the grown that mahler panned his gaze, softening with the affection he had developed for each one of those who called sagtannet home and he their leader. eyes rested upon wylla a gently longer moment, then moved with encouragement to stag.
"ve vill leave the sunspire, heading south. there ve vill decide." too vague an answer, and not one he would have liked to give under better circumstances. but if ever mahler required their trust, it was in this moment. believe, he asked silently of gracious, watching her expression before he addressed the small assembly. "ve vill depart early tomorrow," he decided, opting for a last night of rest in familiar settings for the children who must so abruptly be torn from the home of their birth.
this pained mahler, but he caught sight of phaedra's small form slipping away, what must be her. despairing, requiring himself to show none of this, mahler nodded quietly toward the pack, dismissing them if they so wished, though he would remain behind with wylla until they had gone. stag, he expected, would go to find phaedra, but was welcomed to stay as well with a shift of his lilac stare.