Janius shrugged. "No idea. I don't know the man. He doesn't seem to be angry about it, at least not openly. In fact, one of the reasons mother is talking to him now is to gauge his feelings on the matter. At any rate, if you would rather not talk about the tattoos now, we can wait until later this afternoon." He gave Julan a smirk and a sideways glance. "You really should ask some questions of her next time. Maybe you could do [i]that[/i] now. What do you feel like? It's up to you."

[hr]
Calia remained smiling softly, but Llarasa was beaming. "Oh, I do love when a romance against the odds works out," Llarasa said. "And it's just so fortunate you have been able to help each other achieve in life."

Llarasa and Calia found a place to seat themselves while waiting for the others, but Calia continued the conversation. "Well, I can say that your new family is truly a diverse one with three mixed marriages in its tree. When I was growing up, the few attempts at husbandry of an Argonian and a Khajiit only ever resulted in at least one life lost rather than any more gained. If the empire can unite Tamriel's mainland for a few centuries then perhaps they deserve credit for Leyawiin being a place where you and he found love, Shevari."

"Mother, I don't think that's a nice way to put it," Llarasa said, her smile turning nervous.

Monderyn was hesitant to answer. He showed his teeth and drew in a breath. After a pause, he closed his mouth and glanced away. "We'll deal with it if that happens. We should just keep on our toes for now." He looked over Ahnasha's shoulder. "If you don't mind, we should probably join the others before mother gets more underhanded."