[ It is a quiet corner of the gardens, tucked away enough that anyone just passing through wouldn't be likely to come this way, and yet Thancred tends to be thorough with his patrolling even when he isn't necessarily on the job. Such habits can't simply be forgotten, and he isn't willing to let his guard down in this place either.

He isn't particularly surprised at having been noticed, as he didn't go out of his way to mask his footsteps or his presence. Stephen is, to his credit, rather polite about having been interrupted. ]

I wouldn't go so far as to say that. I wouldn't have expected you to be the meditating sort, for instance.

[ Where he's from, it's usually the monks and samurai of the Far East who do this sort of thing, something to do with centering themselves as a means of being that much more effective in battle. It has never been Thancred's thing, though if someone were to point out that he might benefit from such a stilling of the mind, he might have to concede that point.

He shakes his head to himself. ] I did not mean to interrupt, however, unless you were finishing up.