•••
Caius stopped at a tree, far away from the Carriage but still well within the boundaries of Roxanne's protective Formation. He leaned against the tree, pressing his head against it and looking up at the canopy of branches above.
He closed his eyes and let his mind drift a bit. At some point, he wondered if they shouldn't have left the inn—and the Noble Emissary—behind as they did. Maybe they should have questioned him as Meline suggested. Maybe they could have taken advantage of the Emissary being trapped by the 'Circle of Retribution' Formation to try to kill him.
That second thought made him scoff because there actually hadn't been a conceivable way they could have done that. Right after Roxanne pulled Meline and Caius out of the Formation, the boundaries became impenetrable. That was why she had been so worried and said she wouldn't have been able to pull them out a second later.
Why was the Formation impenetrable? Well, it was designed that way.
