The tears had returned in full, though Kaleeth avoided breaking down as she had before. She wrapped her arms around him, buried her head in his chest, and closed her eyes, allowing herself to focus on actually giving an answer. "Her soul had not yet been reborn. I did get to...feel her presence again. To feel her thoughts, her words...her love, her compassion. But...she normally would have been. In all this time that had passed, she would have been reborn. But the Hist, they kept her with them so..." She began to cry and struggled to keep her words coherent. "...she could say goodbye." 

[hr]

"I know she's your mother." Ahnasha remarked, glancing to the side towards Fendros. "But we have to be formal about this sort of thing now. It used to be that we could just tell anyone we trusted about this, but since the Imperials got involved, well...you know how they can be." 

Ahnasha returned her gave back to Calia. "I do think that you can really help us, Calia. The two of us did talk about this beforehand, and we aren't taking this lightly. I know you said yes, but if at any point you want me to just stop talking and we pretend we never had this conversation, then I will respect that decision. We are not working [i]for[/i] the throne, precisely. As in, we do not have titles, rank, station, or authority in the Empire, but we are working in cooperation with them. And there is a very good reason for us to be working together towards a common goal." 

Ahnasha let out a long breath, tapping her finger against the bed as she thought about how to phrase her explanation. "You lived through the Oblivion Crisis at the end of the last Era. In essence, that is what we are seeking to stop before it can happen. Different Prince, different tactics, but the same outcome. So like Fendros said, bigger than all of us. What we need is exceptional people to be able to do what just numbers cannot. We already have a plan, and the means to carry it out, but I want to give us the best chances we possibly can have. Your husband...it is a rather extreme understatement to say that we have our differences, but what I saw out there on that trail was that he is an exceptional person. Even in that short glimpse I was offered, I could [i]feel[/i] the power he had at his command. He is the kind of person who could really help us, all of us, if he could be convinced to do so."