Gallus seemed to consider Hiritus' answer for a moment, looking down and to one side, clacking his tongue, and bouncing up and down the slightest amount on the balls of his feet. Then, in a sudden change, he pursed his lips and drove a fist right into the centre of Hiritus' abdomen to knock the wind out of him.

With some satisfaction, Gallus spun on his heel and took a couple of paces back, opening and closing the fist that had landed the punch. He only gave Hiritus enough of a break to cough a couple of times before stepping back with a spin and landing a hook on the side of Hiritus' head.

This time, the blow caused Gallus to shake out his hand with the pain on his knuckles, but now Gallus was baring his teeth. "Don't tempt me, jester! I'm not just some lackey. I might even take your bones for myself." Before Gallus let the man answer, he snapped up a boot-covered foot and struck Hiritus square in the chin to get his lip bloody.

[hr]
"Well, it was strange," Fendros began calmly, "She told me this story about how she healed the ankle of a little Khajiit girl in the clan, and the girl gave her this necklace made from teeth in return without any prompt. It was the only thing that the little girl apparently had. It sounded like it really shook her preconceptions about Khajiit. She sounded quite overwhelmed."

While Fendros was talking, Rhazii tried to reach for the sweetroll again and Fendros pulled it out of his reach. Rhazii sat back into Ahnasha's lap with a huff and looked up at his father with a pleading frown.

Fendros looked to Ahnasha as he continued, "I think she might have been trying to apologise for her previous words, but wasn't sure enough. She said she didn't want to leave things as they were between us and her since the last time we spoke." Fendros shrugged, "I do not know whether she'll follow up. I asked her to tell you the same things as well, but I'm not sure..."

"Dada! Can I have the sweetroll?" Rhazii interrupted.

Suppressing a chuckle, Fendros responded. "Now, Rhazii, I need you listen to your mother. Try eating another slice of leek and a bite of mutton first, alright? And remember to say please next time."

Rhazii protested, likely in the same way as he did for Ahnasha. "But dada, I don't want leeks and mutton!"

"Another slice and another bite, son. Otherwise I'll eat the sweetroll myself." Fendros warned. At least Rhazii didn't know about his severe intolerance for moon sugar.

"Dada! No!" Rhazii almost looked like he was going to cry now. All it took was for Fendros to slowly reach for the dessert for Rhazii to swiftly comply. He took in another mouthful, but he made sure to look like he was not enjoying the deal. Only one mouthful was not his entire meal, but it was an easy portion to bargain. The rest of the meal would come later.

Fendros gave Ahnasha an encouraging smile as Rhazii chewed and swallowed. He hoped that she didn't get too much more curious about the wedding details. Fendros wanted to ask her properly in more memorable circumstances.