He cursed himself for expecting more, and felt the old hate welling inside of him as Thomas moved around the room. By the time the man said 'no' Canti had already decided the answer for him. Canti abruptly stepped back from his table, springing off his hands and letting Thomas' fist sail by before retreating immediately to the window. He pressed his back against the glass and held his hands against the window, dragging them across a broad swath of the glass to spread his arms. "It's no secret what I'm doing, I never had to hide thanks to you." He smiled at Thomas, waiting for his next advance as his vision began to spin with pain. "You waste your time chasing ghosts. I know everything in this palace, Thomas. You made enemies when you turned Lexine's presence into a carnival, but what I want is better for you than what they're after." He met Thomas' eye with a cold glare, or at least what he presumed to be Thomas in the blur of dim and dark his vision had become. "There are more letters. How many people do you want to know the truth before you step around that desk?" As he ranted, the desk's surface began to char and blacken. If the knight in front of him didn't beat him down first, he felt prone to collapse, and leaned ever more heavily against the window. It was hard to even remember what he'd been talking about. "They have Lexine, and some [i]burning[/i] questions for you."

---

The two men mostly ignored what Pyper was saying until the mention of Feril Tatchet. They looked at each other for a moment, affirming something between the two before turning back to Pyper. Any diplomacy they had hoped to conduct with the man went out of the way the instant he flipped his cloak, a motion which caused both men to draw a shortsword from under their own. "We will see Tatchet to safety," one of the men said and locked his eyes on Pyper before commanding his fellow, "Emme, go tell Yellow that we're coming out." The other man obliged, and sprinted off before any further incident could ensue. The remaining man lowered his stance, anticipating nothing but unreasonableness on the opposing side. "Seems like we're both after the same thing Pyp, so hang the threats and let's work together." That said, he didn't take a step back. Tatchet was on the shortlist with the rest of the prisoners, she was leaving whether he had to hold a Thistle Knight's hand or not for the process.