Sabine was hit hard enough to take the wind out of her lungs. She coughed and wheezed in a breath. She might have doubled over if Do'rhajul was not holding her up. Hair stuck to her face as Arinette pulled her face up.

The words gave Sabine flashes back to the state she found Ahnasha and Fendros in back in Black Marsh. She barely even remembered their torturer. She only remembered that he did horrible things to them. Things that stayed with them forever. Arinette could do those things to her.

Sabine mouthed something that did not make a sound on her vocal chords. She tried again. "Please..." She barely spoke louder than a mouse. "We did not plan to fight. We did not come to attack anyone."

She did not want to say what the plan was. She did not even know if it was a success.

[hr]
Meesei's outburst caught Fendros' attention just as strongly. Not only because it was uncharacteristic for Meesei, but also because he thought for a moment she was referring to him and not Ahnasha. Fendros looked back at Meesei with silent astonishment for a long while.

This was what it took for Fendros to realise the impact of what had just happened. His efforts of cobbling a wall of anger and action that would never surmount their situation crumbled. His knees shook. He slowly emptied his lungs to little above nothing and panned his unfocussed eyes across the ground.

"The...the same reason you didn't," Fendros barely managed to string together.

The words felt cold. Colder than Meesei deserved. Fendros knew what it was like to know that his child was in danger. He knew the feeling well. Looking at Rhazii's face reminded him every time he saw it. Nothing he could say would placate Meesei. The thought put him into focus. He did the only thing he could think to do.

His helmet fell to the ground with a hollow thud. He took step after careful step towards Meesei. He was not aggressive or sympathetic. He did not even flinch. His only other movement was a ward prepared in his left hand. Unless Meesei cast magic he would be forced to ward away, he did not react to anything she said or did. He just closed the distance with a face as blank as the Dwemer automatons around them.

Then, when they were close enough, he embraced Meesei. He embraced her tightly.

"I won't let you be the stoic one," Fendros murmured in a pained monotone. "I won't let you. Not for this."

Fendros' words were clear enough. He had similar wrath when Rhazii's life was in danger. None of that gave him any further control, yet Meesei was there for him and Ahnasha those years ago. Now the roles were reversed. Fendros would not let Meesei go unsupported.

Janius watched on through his own tears. He could see Fendros' face over Meesei's shoulder with his jaw clenched tight and his eyes stern and unnaturally calm. It was amazing in a strange way that he was not in a similar state to the rest of them.