"That was part of it, I have no doubt," Gallus said, "Though, I think it more likely that there were three other reasons that my pack was selected. First and foremost, Meesei wanted to have greater numbers on her journey for the sake of protecting the children. Have you met Rhazii and Newt yet? They are sweet little things, but too young to protect themselves." Gallus pointed two fingers, "Secondly, I have expertise in my pack. My packmates Uthri and Irenya are great with the wilderness and healing, respectively. Not to mention, they are excellent in a fight. Finally, my boys Peiter and Tzirret...they needed worldly experience. Although, that reason was closer to myself than Meesei. It's why I nominated my pack to join them." Gallus was about to go back to his food, but looked up momentarily, gesturing aimlessly, "Apart from...you know, my own troubles."

Gallus took a deep breath and leaned back a bit. "Anyway, where were we? Ah yes, training. My father is a Skyrim Nord and a veteran of the civil war up there. He was much younger when it happened, but he was trained as an officer in the imperial legion before he was turned. He, uh...it was pretty clear that he was training me with the intention of grooming me for leadership. I think he wanted a legacy on the council table in the Bruma pack. I'm not sure that I'm really cut out for it, though. Everyone says that you have to maintain an flawless image in order to lead that many people. I think I would find that too stifling." Gallus shuffled his food on his plate as if he wasn't sure whether he was still hungry. He was almost finished anyway. "I'll give the old man credit, he knew the ways of war."

---

Clutching one arm, Tzirret fidgeted in his seat and looked down. "Not really, but he has to now." Tzirret said with an agitated tightness to his voice, "This one was told that he would join the march. He was going to talk to Gallus about it and try to stay here, but he told his friends first. When he heard that Bheja and Ma'tanza were going, he knew that he could not just stay. And now you and Sabine are going as well." With worried eyes, Tzirret glanced up at Peiter, then down at the table. "Isn't Peiter worried about Sabine going?"

"Who is worried about me?" Sabine asked curiously as she made herself apparent. She had a bowl of dried fruits and a cut of meat in her hands as she took a seat up close to Peiter. "Are you alright, Tzirret?"

Tzirret shifted uncomfortably again. Peiter could explain when he answered Tzirret's question.

Ri'vashi quickly started to chuckle as Gallus was speaking about his father. "Now, are you entirely certain you were not describing Ri'vashi's father? Other than being Nord, that sounds just like Ennond. The legacy, the fighting expertise. Granted, Ri'vashi embraced those ideals a bit more whole-heartedly. With how dull this one's personal life is, there is probably nothing anyone could find to stain her image. Ri'vashi did have a glass of wine once and told a bad joke about an Altmer, but in her defense, he deserved it."

By this point, Ri'vashi was noticeably more relaxed than when they had started talking. Given that she maintained a mostly serious disposition the majority of the time, it could be assumed that relaxing was not something she did often. "Ri'vashi does not drink often. For a Cathay at least, it does not take much to bring her mind too far out of sorts for her liking."

---

Peiter greeted Sabine with a quick kiss on the cheek before returning his attention to Tzirret. "Yes, I'm worried about the whole attack, of course, but I'm really worried about you. You're getting a lot better, Tzirret; don't let anyone tell you otherwise. But...this attack will be a major event. Vile will certainly have a large force marshaled at his stronghold."

Letting out a sigh, Peiter looked down at his food and hesitated with his uncertainty before continuing. "I'm sure there is some way you can be helpful on the march, but...are you sure you don't want to try to avoid the fighting? If you want to talk to Gallus and ask him to keep you out of it, I'll support you completely."

"Aha," Gallus leaned forward and had one elbow on the table and was waving his finger up in the air in Ri'vashi's direction. He was smiling, but his tone was of a friendly and not-so-serious warning, "It's just the same as love as with drinking; if you don't have practice, it'll catch you out more easily." Gallus chuckled and brought his hand back, "In any case, it's surprising to hear that you're a...well a lightweight seems an inappropriate term. Perhaps you might try a drinking contest with Lorag so he can regain his pride after your bout a little while ago."

After a quick laugh, Gallus closed his mouth and thought for a moment. He lowered his brow as a question came to mind. "How often is drink broken out in this clan, anyway? What is the local brew here in Anequina?"

---

Sabine briefly smiled at Peiter with his greeting, but quickly brought her attention back to Tzirret. It quickly became clear to her what the topic of conversation was.

Frustration passed onto Tzirret's face. "No! Did Peiter not listen? Bheja is going to be fighting as well." Tzirret's breathing was uneasy, but at least he was managing to keep his voice down. "This one does not want Bheja or Peiter or Sabine to get hurt or killed because he was not there to help."

"Have you tried talking Bheja out of fighting?" Sabine asked.

Tzirret nodded, "Everyone has. Even S'nishi, and she has been in more battles than any of us."

There was a pause where Sabine looked to Peiter with worry, and then back to Tzirret. "Look, Tzirret...Peiter and I can take care of ourselves. You do not have to worry too much about us." Sabine blinked a couple of times, glancing to one side. "We...don't know Bheja's skills. But still, we are worried that you might be the one who will get hurt."

"No!" Tzirret said a bit more loudly and defiantly. Then, as if suddenly realising his near-shouting, quietened to a mumble again. "Tzirret has to try."

Sabine sighed, apparently not knowing what else to say. She had a niggling feeling that this was about something more to Tzirret.

Ri'vashi gave a shrug and curled her lips briefly in thought. "Well...that depends on the person. Our clan does not have to be as conservative with water as many other places in the desert, so dehydrating yourself with alcohol is not a great issue. If anyone is willing to spend their own coin, they can have one of our supply runners purchase anything they want from Orcrest. We don't stockpile alcohol, so you'll need to find someone willing to share if you want a drink. Well, we do have a small supply of it in reserve if there is ever cause for a feast, but we do have to be conservative with our food supplies, so that probably won't be used until the end of this war."

Ri'vashi took a few moments to eat some of her meal, which she had been neglecting with their conversation. She was actually surprised with how distracted she was becoming. "Ri'vashi honestly cannot say what the most popular local brews are. As she said, she does not really drink. Something sweet, she guesses. In Elsweyr, it is always something sweet."

---

Peiter was both frustrated and surprised with Tzirret's apparent stubbornness. The Tzirret he knew would be too nervous to willingly head into a battle of the scale they were discussing, but now, he was fighting to stay in it. If there was one thing Peiter was certain about, it was that Tzirret had changed drastically in the few months since they left Bruma. Given that they had not spent much time together recently, it was a change that Peiter was now experiencing all at once.

"Tzirret...I know you want to be there for your friends. That is admirable, actually, very admirable. But...you have to trust us Tzirret. You don't yet have the training you'll need for this kind of a fight. You need to keep yourself safe now so you can help us later on. What if we end up needing your help sometime in the future, but you ended up getting hurt in this fight? We can't know what is going to happen in this attack, or any other battle; all we can do is plan things out to the best of that ability. Sometimes that means being brave; sometimes it means knowing when to back down, and keep yourself alive to help your friends when they really do need it." Peiter explained, trying to sound as encouraging as possible.

Gallus continued eating as Ri'vashi spoke. Unlike her, he had been eating whenever she paused, so he was almost finished.

"I should expect as much, yes. Probably full of moon sugar as well." Gallus commented. "You know, shortly after we landed in Senchal, we all went to wait at a local dockside tavern where we would apparently meet up with contacts from the Senchal clan. We were waiting for a while, so I ended up ordering a drink. 'The local speciality' was what I requested, and I swear, it was just water with moon sugar in it." Gallus nodded to one side, looking at the table with a raised eyebrow, "It might as well have been moon sugar with water in it for how strong it was." Gallus stopped and raised a hand, "Now, don't get me wrong, I do love mead, but...there's such a thing as too sweet." He sighed. "It has been too long since I've had a nice, crisp ale. There's nothing like it."

Gallus finished his dinner in one more mouthful and leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head. "Anyway, back to what we were saying earlier. You say your personal life has been too dull for any tarnishes. I find it hard to believe that the only embarrassing experience you've had in life was to be honest with an Altmer. Surely you've had some other excitement in your life. Have you?"

---

Perhaps he was sick of being a coward for so long or perhaps it was simply adolescent defiance. Tzirret's frustration turned into outright anger at this point. He bared his teeth and flattened his ears, bit still held onto his arm. "I want to help my friends," he said stubbornly without giving Peiter or Sabine eye contact, "Peiter and Sabine do not understand!" With that, Tzirret took his dinner, stood up, and walked off as quickly as he could in a huff.

"Tzirret! Wait!" Sabine called out and reached out a hand, but there was no response.

It appeared that Tzirret was heading off to an unoccupied table further away to finish his dinner.

Sabine looked to Peiter with something of a lost expression. "Has...Tzirret ever done that before?"

Tzirret had his back to them both as he started on his dinner. His ears were still flattened and he was hunched over, angrily chewing his food.

With an amused laugh, Ri'vashi leaned forward onto the table. She shook her head and took a few more bites before finally giving a response. "That is a good try, if you're wanting to find something to laugh about. Ri'vashi might be sharing a lot about herself, but don't think she's going to share everything. She would have to be much more intoxicated for that, which, as we discussed, probably isn't happening. That, or you would have to offer an equivalent exchange."

Ri'vashi did not expect that Gallus would be accepting her offer, so she moved on. "Do you question everyone like this, or did La'tahne put you up to questioning Ri'vashi. That woman has tried to do everything within her power to make this one's life more interesting, or 'somewhat less drab than Vvardenfell in an ashstorm', in her words."

---

"Not...really, no. He's been angry before, definitely, but he's never really been this bold. I just never would have expected him to actually want to put himself at risk like this." Peiter answered. He brought his hand up to his head and rested it lightly on two of his fingers as he stared down Tzirret from a distance.

Peiter continued quietly enough to keep Tzirret from hearing him. "Well...want might not be the word. He's acting like he needs to be in the fight. I can definitely understand wanting to keep his friends safe; I've had a few nightmares about that before, but he acts like one of us getting hurt would be inevitable if he isn't there. That...makes me afraid, honestly. He doesn't have as much training as us to begin with, but if he's distracted by this during the battle, I'm really worried he'll get himself hurt. I...think I will talk to Gallus about it. Whether he wants it or not, Tzirret shouldn't be in this attack. He might hate me for it, but I'm going to ask Gallus to keep him out of the fight; I'm not going to let him get himself killed."

Gallus put up both hands with closed eyes and a smile. "Perish the thought, dear clan leader," Gallus opened his eyes, "I've not actually spoken to La'tahne at any capacity except about the prisoner." Having made his case, Gallus put his hands back behind his head and grinned in amusement. "No, I apologise for prying," Gallus offered a hand in consolation, "You were just rather open before, perhaps I was pushing my luck."

Despite his apology, an idea formed in Gallus' mind that he thought would be funny for a tease. Thinking back on the tavern in Senchal brought together an interesting explanation for La'tahne's behaviour around Ri'vashi. Meesei was not likely unique in one special characteristic. "Do you think La'tahne might be attracted to you?" Gallus asked bluntly, but with a mischievous smile.

---

"I agree," Sabine said, looking over at Tzirret as well with a similar expression of worry.

After taking a breath and glancing to the ground, Sabine turned to Peiter again. "Do you think he is trying to prove himself?" Sabine asked without any humour in her voice. She glanced to Tzirret again and back to Peiter. "He might just want to be with Ma'tanza rather than stay." Sabine stopped and shook his head, "No, you offered for him to come along without being in the fight. Never mind."

Once more, Ri'vashi smiled, and started to chuckle. "Oh Gallus...yes, Ri'vashi thinks she is. She thinks La'tahne is attracted to you as well, and Meesei, and everyone in both the Orcrest and Senchal clans. If you told Ri'vashi that La'tahne was attracted to that strange lizard the Champion's pack brought with them, she would believe you without hesitation. La'tahne earned her name more than most who bear it. She will, and has, mate with any kind of person, any race or gender. She is such a strange person, in Ri'vashi's opinion. She treats mating like it's a way of life. This one doubts there is anyone else like her in Elsweyr."

---

"I don't know." Peiter began, but as Sabine spoke, his eyes widened briefly with a flash of inspiration in his mind. "But you just gave me an idea. Ma'tanza, the one who he is infatuated with, she might be able to help. If Gallus agrees to let him sit out of the attack, then she might convince him to stay out of it willingly. I doubt she wants him to get hurt, so she will probably want him to stay out of danger. Depending on what the enemy fortress is like, I doubt it will be hard to convince her to help. We just have to convince both Gallus and her that Tzirret isn't in a good enough state of mind to be a part of the fight."

There was some hesitation from Peiter as he slowly looked over towards Sabine with a hint of doubt. "You...do think I'm right, right? That Tzirret shouldn't be in the battle? I don't want to doubt him too much, but...this just seems like too much for someone so inexperienced."

Gallus had intended to suggest that there was a deeper affection that La'tahne had for Ri'vashi, but her response was fair enough. By the way La'tahne was described, however, Gallus couldn't help but be reminded of another such person. He slid his empty plate gently aside, rubbed his nose with the top of one finger, and clasped his hands together.

"Actually, Ri'vashi, I can think of one other who shows very similar traits." Gallus said matter-of-factly, but with raised eyebrows and a strained smile. "You remember the pride we rescued from imprisonment after we landed? There is a woman in that pride by the name of La'khay, who...well, I think she has the same approach as La'tahne." She even seduced Tzirret at one point, the poor kid, Gallus almost said, chuckling briefly instead. "Don't get me wrong, she's a very friendly person, but..." Gallus looked to the table and let out a breath through his closed lips in an overwhelmed expression, "...she hasn't much shame, let's just put it that way. I don't know if she just goes for men or not, though. Never thought to ask."

In that moment, Gallus stilled himself, raised an eyebrow, and flicked his eyes up to Ri'vashi. "Divines, what would happen if they met each other!?" Gallus pulled a bewildered sturgeon frown, "Would they butt heads, or...?" Gallus decided not to finish that sentence.

---

Sabine nodded affirmatively to Peiter's idea. But when he asked confirmation of his opinion, Sabine had to pause and look to Tzirret in thought.

"I do not think he should be in the fight." Sabine said, "Though...if his friend gets hurt or killed..." Sabine bit her lip, "He would never forgive himself." Sabine turned to Peiter again and shrugged, "He has been in a battle before. He has more experience than most his age. You are right, though. He could be distracted." Sabine sighed and closed her eyes, "It is not so simple. I think Gallus would know better than me or you."

Ri'vashi leaned her head onto her hand and started shaking her head as she gave a few silent laughs. "By Hircine, this one does not want to think about it. Two women like that meeting each other...we would probably never see them again outside their room. We should do our utmost to make sure they never meet...or actually, perhaps we should just lock them into a room together. At least then, La'tahne might be too distracted to continue bothering Ri'vashi."

Straightening up her posture once more, Ri'vashi gave a quick huff. "Though, knowing this one's luck, they would just turn it into a competition. Ri'vashi has a hard enough time dealing with one of them; two would just be a nightmare."

---

While Peiter did agree that the situation was not quite simple, his opinion on the matter still did not change. If anything, Sabine had mentioned a point that made him a bit more resolute. "I hope nothing happens to any of his friends, but if it did...well, someone like Najirra could help him heal mentally. But, if he gets distracted in the fight and gets himself killed...he'll never get a chance to heal, or train, or improve his skills. It will just be over. He seems to be so much more confident than when we first left Bruma; he has really broken out of the shell he has always been living in since I've known him. He's a member of my pack, and I care about him like a brother; I don't want all of the good that has happened to him to have been for nothing. I still think I should try to convince Gallus to keep him out of the fight. I'd rather him hate me forever than for him to die in this fight."

Gallus was continuing to laugh through a grin. "Let us pray that they do not join forces, then."

The conversation had put Gallus in a much better mood than when they had been talking about him problems. He was also glad to know that Ri'vashi had the capacity to loosen up and enjoy a laugh.

There was a moment where Gallus cleared his throat and swallowed to try and stop laughing. "More seriously, though, I was wondering if La'tahne had a romantic infatuation with you. It certainly sounds like she enjoys your attention. Are you a particular target of her attempts to make life interesting, or does she tend not to focus on you?"

---

Sabine opened her eyes and frowned. She didn't like the way Peiter made it sound like Tzirret could just be bent back into shape like a fork if one of his friends died in battle. Still, he was correct in that it would be better than dying.

After another nod, Sabine placed a hand on Peiter's shoulder and spoke. "I do not think Tzirret would hate you forever." Sabine craned her head up and looked around the room. "I think I saw Gallus when I was getting my food. We could find him now if you like." Looking back down to Peiter, Sabine wore a small smile, "We should be able to find Ma'tanza as well, if she is having dinner here."

Ri'vashi shook her head. "No, this one does not think so. As disappointing as it might be to you, she just goes after anyone she finds too 'boring.' It just happens to be that Ri'vashi is the most 'high-profile' of those people. This one thinks that she would consider it to be some kind of achievement if she convinced Ri'vashi to embrace her...lifestyle, even for a short time."

After finally managing to finish her meal, Ri'vashi gave a sigh as she glanced towards the dining chamber's exit. "Anyway, Ri'vashi would love to remain, but she does have more duties to attend to. But, we should speak again soon. It is...relaxing."

Nearby, Peiter gave a grimace while looking across the chamber, towards Gallus. "I do want to speak to him, but...he looks like he's with the clan leader. I wouldn't want to interrupt him. Actually, now that I think about it, we should really make sure to plan out our argument first. It's not often that I try to counter Gallus on something, and if we don't convince him the first time, I'm afraid we won't convince him at all. Let's make sure we're ready before talking to him; this is too important to take chances."

---

In order to ensure her proper healing, Dar-tzesa was allowed to remain sleeping for the majority of the night. Meesei, Ri'vashi, and Gallus retired early for the night, since they were required to wake early the next morning. Ri'vashi had informed the required guards of their plan, and had made sure only they would be along the path Gallus would be taking to the stronghold's secondary exit. Everything was in place; all that was left was to claim Dar-tzesa's head and use it to deceive Hiritus.

Meesei and Gallus were already in the room with Dar-tzesa. It was early in the morning, several hours before the majority of the clan would awaken. Ri'vashi was performing the last sweep of Gallus' planned path to make sure everything was ready for the ruse, and once she returned, it would be time to begin.

Dar-tzesa had, of course, not been informed of what was going to happen to her, but with the attention being given to her, she had gathered something was about to happen. She was laying on her back on the same table that was used in her operation, with her legs and arm firmly bound. The magic that had rendered her unconscious before had worn off, so she was mostly in her right mind. Although, there were noticeable tears in her eyes as she looked up to Gallus. "It's...over. It's all over. No one...no one will be there for him."

Gallus pulled a half smile and gave a single quick nod. "Absolutely," Gallus said brightly, "It is good to get to know you outside of serious duties."

With that, Gallus pushed up out of his seat and picked up his plate to wash it. He wished the enjoyable conversation could have distracted his thoughts for longer, but enough time in silence passed that he was back to thinking about tomorrow. He wasn't sure exactly what part of it he was looking forward to the least.

Gallus' movements caught Sabine's eye once Peiter spotted him. "Okay. It looks like he is done." Sabine, glanced to Peiter. "If you want to wait and think, that is okay."

---

With his hands clasped together in front of him, Gallus looked over Dar-tzesa as coldly as he could. Even with how much he had seen her suffer, she never failed to rub off some despair onto himself. At this point, Gallus was looking forward to the end of her life almost as much as she was, if only because he thought he would be able to move on. Still, he knew this point would be the most difficult.

When Dar-tzesa spoke, her last words caused his eyes to light up slightly through his callous mask of a face. He turned his head slowly to Meesei, then to Dar-tzesa again. He heard an assurance from his rational mind that to broach this new topic would only lead to more suffering as he breathed in to speak.

"Dar-tzesa. I'm going to fulfil the promise I made to you earlier." Gallus said in a monotone. He stepped up to the table and slid a sharp dagger out of his sleeve, checking its edge in full view of the prisoner. He wished that Dar-tzesa could have a painless death with Meesei's magic, but in his haste to get things over with, he placed his empty hand over her snout to keep her mouth closed and placed the edge of the dagger to one side of her neck. All he had to do was pull, but he hesitated. His eyes caught hers and he sighed.

Slowly and shakily, Gallus lifted his hand and dagger off Dar-tzesa and rubbed his forehead with his knuckle. "I know that look," Gallus mumbled. He put both his hands on the table and took another breath, his face finally softening. "Dar-tzesa, we're at the end. I must be honest. I have cared for two boys for the better part of eight years. I know that look you have." He pursed his lips and looked ahead, trying to think of what to do. "One final bargain," he said quickly, looking to Dar-tzesa again, "If you tell me who it is that you were there for, I will promise two things;" Gallus nodded his head towards Meesei, "I'll have Meesei here numb your pain so your death will be as painless as falling asleep and I will do my utmost to make sure that someone will be there for whoever it is. No more daedra, no more lycanthropy, no more war."

Gallus didn't care at this point whether Meesei approved of his actions or not, but after this long, Gallus felt as though Dar-tzesa deserved hope in her death at the very least.

Dar-tzesa closed her eyes and started simply shaking her head, letting out muffled, quiet sobs. Even before she answered, it was obvious that she did not believe Gallus. That, or was too hopeless overall to believe that anything could help her situation. Regardless, she did eventually give him an answer. "You can't help him. I can't help him. It's just...over. He's...by the root, he didn't deserve this. All I had to do was help him kill monsters. All I had to do was live up to my end of the deal, but I couldn't even do that for him. I'm a failure; my son won't have his cure, and it's my fault."

Despite Dar-tzesa's answer, Meesei stood nearby, leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, showing almost no reaction. Her expression seemed almost completely devoid of emotion. Instead, her gaze was deathly serious, and was scrutinizing Gallus' every movement. Her attention was firmly on him, and every word he said. There was no way to say for certain if she approved or disapproved of his current actions, but from her stare, it would not be difficult to assume that she could easily turn her ire towards him if he did something wrong.

The additional information confirmed Gallus' suspicions. Dar-tzesa has a son that needed help and Vile may have exploited that to use her.

Gallus bit the inside of his cheek and glanced away, but he didn't give up. He spoke to Dar-tzesa in a more level voice. "You can think that, but you don't know that it's true. You have a choice, Dar-tzesa. Either you say nothing and guarantee that your son will not be helped, or you tell me now and create a chance that he can." Gallus angled his head forward, looking into her eyes, "Your life is over, but not his. Not yet. Do this one last thing for his sake."

Gallus waited patiently for Dar-tzesa to answer, but his face had a sternness to it that was doing less to hide emotion than before.

Dar-tzesa refused to make eye contact with Gallus, but his offer, coupled with the hopelessness she felt about her situation, was certainly causing her to think. In the midst of her depression, Gallus' offer did give her something to focus on. Some semblance of a choice that might allow how to get what she wanted. "Yizan-Lei. That's...his name. In Gideon, at our home. He needs help; are you going to...wait."

As Dar-tzesa was about to finish her explanation, another thought came to her mind, one which immediately terrified her. With her expression filled with fear, she quickly started to bare her teeth at Gallus. "No! I shouldn't have...don't you hurt him! Stay away from my family you...monsters; I won't let you hurt him!" Dar-tzesa shouted, thrashing violently against her chains.

It was at this point that Meesei could no longer remain silent. The situation was growing out of hand, and needed to be pacified as soon as possible. "Gallus, kill her. Quickly!"

Gallus at first flinched back slightly at Dar-tzesa's reaction. He was going to try and calm her. However, he quickly turned his head to Meesei as she gave the order and Gallus knew that he had to finish it. He placed one hand under Dar-tzesa's chin and plunged his dagger into her throat, immediately silencing her shouting.

"Yizan-Lei, Gideon," Gallus repeated in Dar-tzesa's death throes. He was breathing quickly. He couldn't bare to look at Dar-tzesa's eyes anymore. "I'll help him. I promise."

Dar-tzesa's suffering had gone on long enough. Gallus curled his lips and drew his dagger forcefully back to let the last of Dar-tzesa's life flow free. She was unresponsive in seconds.

With Gallus facing away from Meesei, it almost seemed inhuman to see him immediately go about severing the rest of Dar-tzesa's neck with his dagger. This was why his next actions when he was finished seemed rather sudden. The dagger caused a dull crack to sound as he cut between the vertebrae--the last strands connecting Dar-tzesa's head to her body--and then the dagger made a metallic clatter as it was released onto the table. Gallus quickly released all the air in his lungs and hunched his head forward. He brought the unbloodied back of his wrist up to the bridge of his nose and drew his dagger hand to the edge of the table to support himself, leaving red streaks beyond the pooling blood. A moment of stillness and silence passed, blood dripped from the fingers of his raised hand.

Gallus had killed before. He had seen blood and decapitations before. Never before now had he felt this way about it. He sniffed wetly, fully betraying his emotions.

With Dar-tzesa killed, Meesei's expression returned to one that was more neutral. As per usual, she showed little in the way of an outward reaction to her rather brutal death. Internally, she was unsettled with the potential implications of what Dar-tzesa had said, and how abruptly they had been forced to kill her, but those opinions were not expressed beyond her mind.

"It had to be done." Meesei finally said. "She was growing restless, and might have transformed. That is not a delay we could afford at this stage. I would not allow yourself to become too disturbed by her words. We have no way of knowing how much of what she said was actually true, if any of it actually was. She could have been lying in an attempt to gain some last minute sympathy. It is entirely possible that she was a devout follower of our enemy; we cannot know based solely on her words."

It was not long afterwards that Ri'vashi finally returned from her final sweep, though the sight she walked in on immediately gave her pause. "Oh...this one did not expect her to be dead yet. Well...everything is ready. All of this one's guards have been briefed, and are ready to carry out the plan. Once the head has drained enough blood to be put into your bag, we can begin."

"Good...good. Do you have the ring?" Meesei asked.

"Of course." Ri'vashi answered as she approached Gallus and offered him Dar-tzesa's false Ring of Hircine. "It is actually a quality forgery, so it should be enough to fool Hiritus. This one has not seen any identifying marks that would separate it from the genuine relic."

There was no apparent reaction from Gallus except silent breaths and tiny nods acknowledging Meesei's words. He knew that it all could be a lie. He had just wanted to offer Dar-tzesa some hope as she died rather than complete despair. He couldn't even do that much even if this Yizan-lei turned out to be in genuine need of help. In fact, Gallus didn't even allow Dar-tzesa to die painlessly. With what was going through his mind now, he wasn't in a state to decide whether to keep his promise or not.

When Ri'vashi made her entrance, Gallus remained how he was for a moment, but as she approached, he turned around and lowered his hand to reveal his red and tear-streaked face. He took a breath in through his mouth and spoke, "Right, well...if-if you don't mind, I'll need to take a moment myself." Gallus' voice was slightly weakened, but otherwise level. He raised a bloody hand to pluck the ring from Ri'vashi and slid it into a belt pouch. From there, he carefully walked to a bench nearby one of the walls and wiped his hands clean with a rag. As he did so, he turned around and looked at Dar-tzesa's lifeless body with an open mouth and a tired expression.

Gallus had originally been dubious about the prospect of using the false ring of Hircine to fool Hiritus. However, as Hiritus was questioned, there were a number of indications that he was ignorant of the ring's function. That made it likely that he would not know how to prove if the ring was genuine, but didn't rule it out. Gallus had conceded after enough discussion with Meesei. The artefact was just too valuable to risk being out of her hands.

While they waited for the last of the blood to drain, Gallus didn't say a word. If Ri'vashi wanted to know what happened, she could always ask. Gallus gave no prolonged attention to Meesei. He felt as though Meesei would rather that he hadn't listened to Dar-tzesa's last words.

As the three were waiting together in the room, the discomfort in the air was palpable. Meesei refrained from saying anything further so as to avoid seeming as if she was trying to make excuses for her order. Ri’vashi, meanwhile, simply did not know what she could say. The end result of it all was a silence that went on for an uncomfortably long time, without so much as eye contact for the majority of the wait. Eventually, Dar-tzesa’s head had been sufficiently cleaned of blood so that Gallus could carry it in his bag without the blood showing through on the outside.

With only a simple nod for confirmation from Meesei, the three headed out the door, towards the prison. It was only at that point that Ri’vashi finally managed to do something in response to the situation. She still did not speak, but instead placed her hand gently on Gallus’ shoulder and looked down to him sympathetically.

The silence was finally broken when Meesei decided to give a few final comments about the plan. “The guards will be ready to accept any story you give. They have been told to give believable skepticism, so as long as your story is reasonable, Hiritus should not pick up on the deception. Myself, Ahnasha, and a few of the clan’s mages will be following behind you, out of sight. Go wherever he leads you, but it is important that you not allow him to actually meet with any of Vile’s followers. He knows the location of this stronghold, and the risk of them obtaining that information is simply too great. Any information you gather from him will have to come before that point.”