"What? No, I'm very busy. I have a lot of-" Marcaille began, but she stopped herself as soon as she actually turned her head to look at her visitors. "Oh, I thought you were some of the apprentices. So bothersome, that lot. Ahnasha and...Fendas, right? From the Champion's pack?"

Ahnasha answered with a bit of uncertainty, as Marcaille's response had not inspired her with confidence that questioning her now was a good idea. "Yes, though his name is Fendros, actually. Anyway, um, are you sure this is a good time to talk? We can come back tomorrow."

Marcaille waved her hand dismissively. "No, no, don't worry about that. Those apprentices just like to bother me with all sorts of trivial nonsense. I doubt you two would be here if it wasn't about something at least marginally important."

"Of course, thank you. What I wanted to ask you about was...well, your age, actually. There is something very important to me that I think you might be able to help me with." Ahnasha explained, though she could not help herself from describing her desire in such vague terms, despite the fact that Marcaille was the one person she needed to speak to in detail. 

Marcaille nodded. "Okay, what would that be?"

---

With some hesitation, Peiter knocked on La'khay's door once they reached her room. Standing outside the door, he could hear some muffled noises from within, but it was difficult to make out exactly what they were. A few seconds later, La'khay's weakened, somewhat strained voice sounded out from within. "Come in." She said simply. 

Even more hesitantly, Peiter slowly opened the door. With La'khay's reputation, he was worried on what they might accidentally be walking in on, but in several ways, the reality was worse than that fear. At least it would have been easy to respond to walking in on something private. La'tahne was sitting in a chair directly in front of La'khay, leaned forward with her hands clasped around La'khay's. Both of them had a sullen expression, with the fur underneath La'khay's eyes darkened by her tears. "Oh, Sabine, Peiter. It is so good to see you two safe, but...Peiter, what happened to you?"