Renaud smiled as Loren gestured at the beautiful red rose in the ground. "My world has its beauties, but nothing like this." He had used the present tense so unconsciously that it had not even occurred to him to correct himself.
As Loren began to explain the gods, the young cavalry officer couldn't help but drop his head and laugh quietly so as not to interrupt the gentleman. His own world had had mythologies in its past that sounded quite similar to the pantheon of Caido. Renaud felt as if he had fallen into an ancient Roman fable.
Renaud listened as Loren explained the races of Caido, a talk he had heard once before. This time, however, there was the addition that there were gods that preferred those like Renaud.
"Favored by the new gods?" A tiny smirk creeped up in one corner of his lips. He found the idea exciting despite himself. "I suppose I should learn more." He had no idea exactly what the relationship between the gods was like, but even the idea that there were "new gods" was titillating to the young man. Perhaps the idea appealed to his revolutionary spirit. If there were new gods, could there eventually be newer gods? Gods 3.0? At any rate he decided that it was best to be favored by these new gods, assuming that they were not malevolent spirits.
He stayed quiet as Loren explained the Blight, a phenomenon of which Renaud had certainly not heard. No reply came to his mind, so he stayed quiet. The situation sounded dire, but Renaud was happy he had been assisting in efforts to heal the land even without conscious knowledge. He was filled with a renewed drive to plant his remaining two roses, assuming he could trust this Loren. The stranger had given no indication that he was untrustworthy, and so Renaud decided that he would extend the benefit of the doubt to the man until given a reason not to.
Cartier glanced up at the night sky through the trees as Loren made it clear that it was time to go. At the prospect of returning together to Loren's home, Renaud pondered for a moment. "I suspect," he said finally, "that returning to your home is a safer decision for me than trying to leave here alone. Admittedly I don't know the land well enough to navigate effectively." Renaud stood, careful not to harm the roses in the inner pocket of his coat as he rose to his feet.
"If that is all then, lead the way Sir."
