Basil, without even thinking of the potential repercussions, leaned over and brought Jace's hand back down to rest on the table. Realizing what he had done, he instantaneously retracted his hand, almost as if the contact had burned him. After a moment, he cleared his throat and said, "You shouldn't drink, especially not when we're about to be back on the road."

	After an awkward silence ensued, Leith absently questioned, "Wasn't it odd that, even though she was a scribe, she was alone? She said that she had other men stationed with her, but we didn't see any of them; not on patrol as we headed here, not in the vault. Someone surely had to have accompanied her into the Vault. She'd need at least one knight, if not more."