Janius had expected that the uncertainty he put forward would be reflected back at him. Regardless, he put on a small smile and stood up. Regardless of what they did, he did not want to deny Aurana the rest of her night out, nor did he want to abruptly separate her from Julan and Rhazii. Janius was glad to see them getting along.

When Janius turned around, he spotted Fendros and Ahnasha's beverages and knew exactly what his move was.

And onward the night went. Janius ended up allowing for another hour and a half in the end, but they eventually had to say their goodbyes. Even one night with Rhazii and Julan had Aurana in tears when she had to hug them goodbye. She kept saying that she would see them again, but there was something in her voice that knew that it could be a long time before then.

Jatinha was somewhat emotional, though not to Aurana's level. She had relaxed considerably since sitting closer to the group. When they were walking back to the Aetius manor, she and Rhazii were trailing behind. Despite speaking quietly, any sharp ears could hear a nervous admission of admiration by Rhazii. Jatinha thanked him and held his hand, but a goodbye hug was all else that came of it.

The walk back to the castle was solemn and almost wordless. However, Janius took aside Julan at the gate. "C'mere, Newt," Janius said. He only used his child name as a casual nickname these days. "I want to talk to you."

[hr]
"I had heard as much about you incidentally, champion. Meesei." Lunise was still somewhat stilted. "It explains your background. Back then, I must have been...oh, in the Dominion army, if I were to guess your age?"

Lunise hesitated with a thought. "Where I am from and where my home is has diverged. And the army is not my complete background. I was born in Alinor, the city, in year two of this fourth era. I grew up with the isles being pieced back together by the Thalmor, and I was there helping them. At least, where I could between my education. Most of my nights were practice and writing. Scholarly pursuits. I was always more attached to action, however, and eschewed it after a while. I joined government work, for quite some time, growing the Dominion under my superiors. I was there penning agreements at the behest of the officials that spoke with the Mane as they took Pelletine and Anequina into the Dominion. I stayed there in a governing capacity. About sixty years later, I joined the war effort against the Empire as a battlemage. Then I returned to Anequina, to oversee the region alongside a number of other justicars. We watched the border and built the communities. And then you wandered through the desert with a clan's worth of lycanthropes under my nose. Now I am here. That, I can say, is where I come from. I have been away from Alinor for so long that Rimmen is more a home to me than Alinor. Then again, I have been away from Rimmen for some time as well."

It was clearly a shortened version of Lunise's life, though the way she contracted some portions hinted at what she preferred to look back on. More telling was the point in time where she grew up. The beliefs that had been shattered in front of Meesei's life were formative from her youth. By her account, she had grown alongside the Aldmeri Dominion.