For another few seconds, Sabine sat in quiet moderation.

"You say that every time." Sabine's voice twinged upward from her suppressed emotion. "You spend longer in there, each time. You get worse. Each time, you say it is necessary. How long do you truly need to be in the book to find the answer? Do you know?" Sabine's brow began to tighten. "Will that be the same next week? Do you even know if the answer is in there? You keep changing the answers to these questions and end up spending more time in the book. It is getting harder to trust you. I want to trust you."

[hr]
Fendros did not want this talk to turn into another shouting contest, as it often did.

"I'm sorry, Ahna, but I did not see any other way that plan would work," Fendros responded matter-of-factly, yet with reservation to not escalate. He raised his hands. "Look, I'm not here to disparage your ideas, it just felt strange to throw away a life for this issue. Granted, it is important. It just seemed wholly unnecessary, clan member or not. And this has been going on for longer than today."

Fendros sighed and rolled his head to look Ahnasha in the eyes. His voice was low and sincere. "Lives really have become cheaper to you, haven't they?"