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"Maybe I'm just pessimistic by nature. I hope you're right, though." And before he missed the conversational opening, Hector wanted to make sure he pounced on the next subject. "You mentioned Vantalay, too. You really think Steccat will step in over there?"

'I think it's quite possible, yes. But then again, Vantalay is dealing with a lot, right now. I believe that corner of the war is the most volatile, at the moment. Anything could happen.'

Hmm. Hector wished he could ask something more specific, but this was also extremely sensitive territory for him. There was absolutely no way that he could allow his ties to the Rainlords to be revealed. No matter how much the Magician was growing on him, that would be a bridge too far.

So he left it at that.

And Xander was the one to pose the next question. 'How is it that you ended up fighting Banda Toro, by the way?'

Ah. Hector had been wondering if that was going to come up. While his connection to the Rainlords couldn't be revealed, perhaps it would be okay to reveal his one to the Sandlords. Even Atreyan royalty had ties to them, so it wasn't like there was no precedent for it, either.

But Hector was still hesitant. This wasn't just his secret to share, he felt. If only he could've consulted Abbas, right now.

"At this point, it's hard to know exactly what they were thinking," said Hector. "They are Abolish, after all. But as far as I was able to tell, they were on some sort of scouting mission, and a fight probably wasn't supposed to break out. But it did, anyway."

'I see. Why would they be scouting Atreya, of all places?'

Hector had a pretty strong guess, obviously, so he didn't want to lie and say that he had no idea. He decided to just keep his mouth shut.

'Strange. Do you think you can handle Bloodeye's men once you get back there?'

That was the million troa question, now wasn't it? Hector honestly didn't know. A part of him wanted to feign confidence, but he just couldn't bring that out of himself at the moment, especially after everything he'd already admitted earlier. "I'm not sure..."

'Do you want the Vanguard's assistance?'

Oh shit. Uhhh. "Er... can you even spare the men?"

'No, quite frankly. Nor can I make any promises. But if your need is dire, then I can at least attempt to send someone to your aid.'