Karl and Sabine followed Meesei's lead by eating light. They shared a plate of various cheeses with a kind of dried savoury ocean kelp. Karl looked closely at the kelp before finally giving into Sabine's urging and nibbling at it. He was pleasantly surprised at the taste and texture.

The lunch crowd waned after a while. When Rukeewei left, taking Danee with him, the group took the time to settle into their rooms for a while. The rooms were somewhat better furnished than the last time they stayed in them, though they were still merely inn rooms. They all reconvened around a table to wait for Ariel, Aimee, and Joan.

Ariel's demeanour when she walked through the door was a measure more relaxed than earlier. She held the twins by a hand each, though their squirming and talking was no less subdued.

"Hello! Hello," Ariel said. "Sorry to make you wait, I've had a rush of orders this week and they piled up on me at once. It tends to happen when one of the well-to-do families has a wedding and invites their extended families."

During Meesei's greeting, Ariel let Joan and Aimee go before practically slumping into a seat at the table. She let out a relieved breath. "Oh?" Her attention was regained. "Hmhm, I probably should have told him we could have dinner here at the Nest tonight. Oh, well, if he is cooking something on his own for this occasion, it will indeed be special." She tutted. "This is one of the reasons Rukee is such a sweetheart, but I worry he overworks himself sometimes."

Almost as if they knew the routine when their mother would start conversing with friends, Aimee and Joan sat on the floor opposite one another near the table and started a clapping game between them.

[hr]
The only reason she could manage to be earlier than the other commanders, Ri'vashi knew, was because Saras had told her the extent of the Imperial and Dominion's little competitions. Her counterparts would compete to be there earlier, to get the first word in, to make their mark uncontested, and all manner of other inconsequential reasons. On the upside, Ri'vashi did not have to wait for long. Legate General Gro-Tagnud and Commander Teroiah virtually arrived at the same time.

The cave in some frontier mountain they used as a meeting place offered two entrances to their meeting chamber. Just as well, for the soldiers each side brought as bodyguards only had one chink in their discipline; the glares they gave the other side through their helmets. The Dominion bodyguard was bedecked in their usual ornate banded High Elven armour, made from moonstone and green malachite. The Imperials had their own presence to them, practical though their steel legionnaire equipment was.

The commanders themselves were more distinct in their behaviour.

Gro-Tagnud, the solid seasoned Orcish wall that he was, regarded Ri'vashi without the usual flinch that most express when they see her for the first time. "You must be Ri'vashi. An honour to meet you. I am Legate General Gro-Tagnud." He swung a hand from behind his back to shake Ri'vashi's. He squeezed in a way Ri'vashi knew was a way to test her strength. He had more than he looked himself.

"And you may call me Commander Teroiah," the Altmer leader cut into Gro-Tagnud's introduction almost rudely. Teroiah was unarmed and unarmoured, unless her military dress uniform sufficed to make her look imposing, which it partially did. Just like Gro-Tagnud, she was straight-backed and wholly humourless. However, she had a bite to her tone. "We will be working together, Khajiit," she declared, shaking Ri'vashi's hand in turn. Her hand was not particularly strong. Her little test of strength came instead from the intensity of her eyes boring into Ri'vashi's.

"I can say it's better to have you on our side for a change, Teroiah," Gro-Tagnud commented.

Teroiah's eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly listening to the Legate General. "Tolrog Gro-Tagnud." She drew out his name. "Do not take the liberty of stating I am on 'your side.' Our interest align...temporarily. Do not forget it."

Gro-Tagnud did not speak or blink for two seconds. He cut through the game by speaking. "Let's get started."