Although Shiva didn't show it, Rareth's answer was curious to her. Though on thought it made sense to gear their society more towards preserving life where their population is already heavily controlled. Rothians were so foreign. Nevertheless, it seemed as if Rareth wasn't outwardly cross with the idea of Shiva's treason.

"Yes, it does." Shiva continued in a tone that didn't waver with emotion, having had more than enough time to cry about it in the past, "In the Sovereignty, there are few things worse than turning your back on your country and betraying them. In most cases, it carries a death penalty. The only reason that I wasn't killed was because I was very young at the time. The judiciary decided that I was too young to know better, so instead they beat me with whips,-" Shiva raised a hand to touch her tattoo, "-printed this tattoo onto my head, and threw me in a cell." Shiva's fingers traced across each symbol as she explained, "The first two symbols are a mnemonic for the prison facility I was placed in, the other four symbols are my serial number. I currently have twenty-eight years left on my sentence." Shiva lowered her hand and looked ahead, not making eye contact, "They may as well have killed me, though. I am marked as a traitor, so virtually every Sovereignty citizen treats me with contempt for it. This is actually the first squad I have been in which hasn't verbally or physically abused me since...well, ever. As for why I am here and not a cell, or what I did, those are longer stories."

With how many gaps Shiva gave in her explanation, she expected that Rareth would have more questions. Until they got behind closed doors, though, Shiva only explained as much as to answer her question about the mark. It just so happened that the officer's quarters were just ahead. Shiva still found it odd to make use of them as a 1st echelon, but she was half-following Rareth at this point.