Meesei's grin was not too different from Marod's. "Ah, those stories, they can be as effective of weapons as any blade. I happen to know that they have spread among the ranks of the enemy as well, as much as they want to stifle them. Sometimes, rumors go astray and grow beyond their original bounds. And other times, reality ends up being even more unbelievable than fiction. Which stories are true, and which are exaggerations? Well, there is no reason to say. At any rate, do not worry of your role in all of this. To betray me, you would have had to be working for me to start. You did not compromise any of our secrets, or work against me in any real way. It is true that I am not kind to my enemies, but I came here to make allies."

Meesei glanced briefly to the other two before re-focusing on Orphius. "You need not worry about your own safety, or your family. I am not going to harm them, or have them harmed. And I am sure these two will have them released as promised. After all, if they did not live up to their word with you, how would they ever expect me to trust them?"

---

Ahnasha nodded, somewhat slowly. "Yeah...that's been a hard story to maintain. Especially since we live so far away now. There was one point where my parents said they were going to visit, but fortunately, something came up, so I didn't have to deal with it. I've been trying to think about it. Maybe update the story a bit? Perhaps we could have met someone who gave us the opportunity to open an even larger shop in Solitude? Or no, Whiterun. Whiterun's landlocked, harder for them to get to. It's definitely far enough that they wouldn't come unannounced, and close enough that we could go there if they visited. Although...we'd need an actual hunting shop. Maybe, uh...I don't know. Do we have any contacts that own a business we could pretend to run?"