Marod turned to Lunise with a high-browed look. He gave Meesei a glance. Lunise crossed her arms and acknowledged him but gave no indication of speaking first. The silent impasse continued for another moment before Marod showed a hand to Lunise. "Ladies first," he offered.

Lunise sniffed. Now was not the time for banter. "I think you are getting ahead of yourself, Meesei," she began. "I have influenced a number of key military officers and politicians in the Thalmor, convincing them of the situation. I offered the possibility of proving their worth over you for the axe but it remains without my power to even decide on the Dominion's next actions. The government has convened in secret and is deliberating over my reports. I expect they shall waste plenty of time trying to twist this incident to their own plans, though that is the only obstacle I can see to them committing a force. Even if Vile still holds sway over any part of the Thalmor, they are too smart to render my report discredited by frivolous objections. It is sealed to all counter. Of course, they shall not proceed without a dialogue with Imperial officers. However, that is limited by [i]Marod's[/i] success." She turned her eyes down and across to Marod himself.

"You'll be pleased to find, Meesei, that the process has been as smooth as possible in my power," Marod said softly. It was almost as if he was being deliberately modest to play up his success. "I have met with generals, advisors, and experts in conjuration. Most of whom have a direct portion of the Emperor's ear. And just before I left for this feast, I received these..." Marod reached into the top of his tunic and pulled out two folded letters. The bright red wax sealing them was stamped with a seal of the Imperial diamond.

"One for you, Meesei," Marod said, handing one letter to Meesei. On its face was elegant writing addressing the paper to 'The Champion of Hircine, Meesei'.

"And one for...well, for your care, I would suppose, Lunise."

Lunise reached out and took the letter addressed to 'The Commander of Aldmeri Dominion Interplanar Military Operations.' A placeholder term to be sure, but Lunise knew who to forward it to.

Marod smiled. "I must confess I know little of each letter's contents. But it would be against my duties to the Emperor to break the seals myself."

[hr]
There was little Sabine could do stop her fears rising as Ri'kalesh accompanied her to a spot away from the others. She did not know what to immediately say. She hoped something would come up while they walked but seeing him exude such anger only made her nervous.

A short moment of standing before Ri'kalesh, paralysed and thoughtless, made Sabine realise how little else she could say.

"I do not want to explain everything, Ri'kalesh," Sabine said with a quavering monotone. "Because I do not want you to have to relive what happened to Ciinriel if I explain what happened when Arinette and her servants tied me to a tree." She filled her empty lungs. "I can explain to you why I spared Rhajul. I do want to tell you that. But I need you to first know that I remember everything. I remember finding Ciinriel. I remember what happened to Do'ajee. I remember what happened to your clan near Senchal. I am not forgiving him for any of it. Do you understand?"