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Estelle eyed the agent of the church with a hesitant curiosity as she spoke to her cousin. Long had the Fereis been distrustful of the church. Estellise's own mother had only ever spoken ill of them in front of her, so long as an agent of the church was not also present. Estelle tried not to hold this same view of them without reason. Their views on mages were not incredibly difficult to come across however and that had often been enough to unify the young woman's mind on the matter with that of her family. This particular visit seemed particularly insidious. She wanted very much to believe otherwise, but as Hilda spoke it seemed clear to her what the church's goal was here. They thought the Fereis weak for Gavin's inexperienced leadership and had swept in offering aid as a ploy to take control of the family. Estelle couldn't stand the thought of her cousin being taken advantage of in this way and she naturally stepped between him and Hilda without obscuring Gavin from Hilda's view. "Thank you Miss Theos. The church's concern for our former master's passing is truly touching." Estellise began, feigning a polite kindness for she did not believe the church honestly cared. "As the church's affairs delayed the sending of this message, so too you might expect the family's mourning may delay our drastically altering our state of affairs with the other major families and the church. That our lack of cooperation in the past was at least peaceful suffices us for the moment." She spoke for her cousin. Perhaps this was out of place for her. But as the only aid present she would do her best to advise her master. Hilda raised an eyebrow at the response and looked towards Gavin. "It, well, it's as she says. I dont think I should be... making too many changes right now." Gavin said as he glanced at Estelle for a moment. "I think you should reconsider. Now would be the best time. You could show your strength by forging a bond that your father could not." Hilda interjected. This set Estelle on edge. This comment spoke volumes to the church's intentions here. "You speak out of turn Miss Theos." Estellise started, a bit more serious but keeping in mind not to sound angry. "To say that our master could not forge a bond with the church would imply a failing on his part in an effort he was actively undertaking. That he would not speaks to his convictions as our leader and that the divide was intentional." she said before stepping back to stand by Gavin's side rather than before him. "But you must forgive me. I do not mean to imply any ulterior motive or ill will to you fulfilling your duty. I simply felt it wise to advise you of the particular nature of we mages. One must choose their words carefully lest they impart dishonesty where none was meant." Estelle finished with a more narrow gaze at Hilda. "I know the nature of mages well, make no mistake." Hilda said with narrowed eyes. She sneered at Gavin and shook her head. "I see you are in no state to consider this seriously. Perhaps later, once you're more...experienced, you will understand the benefit." She looked to Estelle. "Perhaps you should speak with your...official advisors about the matter." Estellise's own glare spiked with anger for only a moment, but she controlled herself for Gavin's sake. Gavin had been incredibly passive and for good reason. Hilda Theos departed without further issue, only after Estelle was certain the woman was gone did she turn her attention back to her cousin. "Forgive me Gavin. Perhaps she is right and I should have had mother join you here instead." The mage spoke, somewhat dejected as she reflected on the exchange. "That woman... the church thinks to exert authority over us simply because of your youth. It is not fair to put so much on you! And it is most disgraceful of the church to invoke the memory of your father to get you to agree with them..." She continued, the anger building again in her voice now instead of merely her face.

Thanks to Keres, the minotaurs had not become an issue. Her illusion magic really had its uses when she put her mind to it. Not having to fight at the moment was welcome to Reinaan who was still overly irritated at existing at the moment. It felt like he might have messed something simple up if they had come to blows there. So thankfully he was able to retrieve his jacket to pack away and simply get back to moving along. The group happened upon the set of ruins Madelyn had in mind. The only set left she hadn't been to apparently or that the minotaurs hadn't seen. The boy initially stayed back to keep a look out on the general area as Ryia moved forward to investigate, but at her call decided to move forward. "That is pretty strange huh..." Reinaan mumbled as he approached the dais to confirm Ryia's observation. Sure enough, it looked much older than the surrounding structure but the draken's focus was on the raised nature of the platform. Something in his mind wanted to try and press it down, like a peg in a hole. In a less than graceful motion the boy pulled himself up on top of the dais to investigate. Immediately Reinaan could tell that it didn't feel stable. The stone felt like it was shifting under his feet and was cracked in various places. Putting his idea into motion, the Fire Chosen did a short hop in place as if he could force the dais down into the rest of the building. Cracks spread at the application of his weight but as yet no major shifting occurred. "Hey so what's the trick to this place? There something here or not?" He called back to Madelyn and Keres in particular, assuming either one might just as readily have a secret spell ready that would open the mystery of the ruins up. "I haven't been here before I don't know! I was just about to see if they have any treasure...I mean, see if there's anything important in these buildings." Madelyn shouted back. Keres however approached before commenting, no doubt not wanting to raise her voice. "It doesn't seem the same..." She looked to her side and nodded. "Flux says they can sense something faint. Seems...muffled." "Should I keep jumping?" Reinaan asked fairly innocently and without much thought. His brain had one real idea about this and that was all he was going to do if no one else had something better. Keres tilted her head as Reinaan asked and looked down towards the dais. "Sounds dangerous." "That's the fun part." Reinaan laughed back before squatting some to get ready to really jump on the thing. "You'll save me if something goes wrong anyway." he added nonchalantly back at the witch. In truth, he wasn't sure anyone but Lindow would really put their neck out for him but if he never put the trust out for Keres he could never expect it back. Reinaan then proceeded to really lift himself up off the ground to stamp down into the dais. The stone began really shifting this time but not quite as the boy had intended. The middle had begun sagging down but the edges stood at their normal height. Regaining his balance the boy looked back at Keres. "Did Flux feel that?" Reinaan asked, hoping his method had made some headway on the vague whatever the water spirit had picked up. Keres simply shook her head. "Well, one more for good luck." the draken decided before jumping once more in place. More cracks set into place as the stone started crumbling away. Reinaan seemed very pleased with himself as he stood over what was quickly becoming a hole deeper into the ruins opening up underneath his feet. The look of self-pride shifted very abruptly to one that clearly regretted his recent life choices as the Draken's feet suddenly had nothing left to stand on and he flailed his arms outward getting ready to grab the edge of the new opening he had created.