"I do not like the air of this night," Oswall remarked as he stood up and left the room with Meesei.

When Meesei instructed everyone that the lieutenants would remain watched, the reaction was not exactly celebration, but Najirra's smile seemed to silence any objections they might have had. Janius nodded to Meesei and lead Oswall away on command. Harriet stayed seated, staring at a wall in annoyance.

By this time, Vera and Ahnasha had reached the meeting room. Vera's reaction to seeing her husband's corpse, still pale and marked with the dark lines of his poisoned veins as well as leaking vile black liquid from the mouth and nose, was an understandable flood of emotion straight to her entire demeanour. She bent her torso and put a hand over her mouth, her face red and tensed into sadness and shock as she rushed up to Jerrick's body and fell to her knees next to him. The closure of knowing may have been important to her, but the outpouring of grief as she pressed his head to her chest and wept was hard to watch. Eventually Jerrick would have to be moved and prepared for burial, but Vera didn't look like she was going to move any time soon.

Back in Najirra's chambers, Darahil sat up straight with a face likened to holding needles in his mouth. He held his hands at the knees of his crossed legs and sat higher than Meesei, but he gave no words to her before she began her questioning.