Ah, so that was what the man had been trying to say. Gazing out over the landscape thoughtfully, Emil mulled his reply over carefully before speaking. He did hope for such a future, as did every man, woman and child in his homeland. He had never considered such a future much though, choosing, in his steadfast and unimaginative way to focus on the here and now. As things were, he could choose no better life for himself or his boys, than being Wardens. At least that way they could help work toward that distant future he could hardly imagine.

"I do," he replied simply, choosing just a handful of words in the end. "But until it comes I focus on the fight and not on hopeful dreams."

He did not consider the guards thoughts about his daughter, even though Gallagher's reaction might have given food to some thought. Instead, Emil stood quite still, his gaze lost on the horizon. He had been trying to learn the lay of the land, spot the landmarks that was surely out there. He was unaware that there was the shadow of a smile lingering in the corners of his mouth, and that it was quite impolite to be standing there mute. But he was thinking of Sol, of what exactly her habit of 'making her own decisions used to mean'; everything from training with a sword alongside her brothers, even though her mother spoke against it, to the day when she cut off her long, sunny curls, declaring that everyone treated her as a child because of it.
If there was anything Sol could be trusted to do, it was making her own decisions.

Glancing sharply at Gallagher, Emil first took his comment to be in jest. But the man's face was sincere, his face open and honest and frowning. Was things truly so different here? While he knew that through the history of the Order, the Wardens had had all manners of roles and positions, he had not considered any other option than the one of his home country. Their king was weak, a man without a spine and thus a man that Emil despised, and he saw nothing wrong in the people looking for the First Commander for leadership. If the Order used that power to tilt the axis of power, and do good, he saw now problem in that either. It worked, it united the land against the troubles they faced and that was that.
From what he had seen, there was little chance that the Warden Commander could do much good even if he did put his weight behind the throne. Still, it made little sense to him, even with his ideals of honour and pride.

"The Fereldan Wardens are keen on staying neutral?" he asked at length, for the first time asking a question that he honestly wanted a reply for.