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[center][b]The Council of Nikaea
The Staterooms of Sekhmetara[/b][/center]

For what it was worth, after he had left the Council Chamber, Micholi had sent a quick message ahead to his sibling Sekhmetara to expect his arrival...and a polite request that she have some of the wine she had produced that could actually affect beings of their genetic makeup on hand. He doubted that he truly needed to explain why.

It wouldn’t take him long to reach his destination anyway, but despite feeling… so tired of everything, he still felt the need to be polite and respectful enough to let his sister know he was coming rather than just barge in.

The hazel plate armoured guardians who flanked the entrance to Sekhmetara’s chambers bowed their heads at his arrival, stepping aside to allow him easy entry through the archway, their gene-enhanced forms bringing them up much further on the height of a primach than would be expected of mortal, while lacking the excessive bulk of the astartes.

As she would with any of her siblings, Sekhmetara proved more than willing to set aside the appropriate time, and beverages, to host Micholi in the quarters assigned to her for the duration of the Council. While she had been absent from the second round of open debate, already the occurrences had been whispered to her long before she had received the official report, the dataslate of which she currently pursed through. Reclining one one of the long divans of her chamber, the Mithran primach was garbed in a light gown of Khafre orange, the cloth bound together at her sides by golden chains. Few of her siblings had enough experience with true intoxication to have favourites, but the wine decanters she had arrayed on the low-table that marked the main gathering area of the room held vintage from across the galaxy, spiced with the Fenrisian herb which enabled the operative drug to impact their Primach physiology.

“Brother.” She spoke with a pleasant smile as he arrived, rising from her lounging state, the dataslate abandoned for the moment on the table, leaning in to kiss his cheek in greeting. “Please sit, you have more use for the wine than I, although you’ll have to excuse me also partaking.” She laughed a single melodious note, before returning to her previous position, although her eyes remained fixed on her sibling. “Do feel free to talk about it.”

Micholi turned his head to the side in order to make it easier for Sekhmetara to kiss his cheek ( the unscarred one at any rate) and muttered a tired, restrained “Sister.” out of polite respect despite the fact that right now he didn’t feel like talking to anyone at all. Walking over to claim a seat for himself… and the offered wine in question, he was silent as he quickly downed the glass without really giving himself the chance to taste or enjoy it. There wasn’t much of a point trying that under the best of circumstances anyway, but right now he didn’t care enough to put on the performance for Sekh’s sake.

Closing his eye after his glass was empty, he breathed deeply and waited a few extra moments in silence before he let out one last breath before his eye opened again. “Sorry about that. I know that wine is meant to be savored but… It has not been the best of days. Might I ask how much you’ve already heard and possibly where Daena is? I confess I assumed she was with you, since both of you weren’t present in the Council chamber.” After all, the recess was only for an hour or so. No point wasting her time with stuff she already knew about.

“Drink away, there’s plenty more to savour once it has dulled the pains of whatever haunts your mind.” Sekhmetara waved one hand dismissively, the other reclaiming the dataslate from the table, her own wine untouched for the moment. “She was with me, but for the moment she is flying, it helps her to think, or so she says. Even without being there, the news of the second debate wears heavily on her, if not quite as much as the first. You will have to settle for just me, for now.” She spoke with the tone that suggested she would never consider anyone to feel slightly by her presence on its own, even as she lent forwards to claim a goblet of wine, a Terran white, from the table. “I have heard everything by now, and likely more besides.”

Micholi… sighed again. There wasn’t much that needed to be said on the events of the day it seemed as he seemed to slouch in his seat. “Well… apart from the fact that I have likely isolated myself from the few Primarchs that actually care about the Edict beyond the fact that since the Emperor wrote it makes it holy and thus scrapping it would be heresy, pissed off Augor and likely Usriel and got myself chastised by our Warmaster alongside Nimue… who like Nelchitl has outright accused me of treason on the chamber floor… How do you think things went and what are your thoughts about today?”

The Mithran’s gaze upon Micholi was unbreaking, but neither judgemental or comforting, at least outwardly, allowing the man to speak in full before even considering a response, the end of his words and the beginning of her’s punctuated by a long, slow sip of wine. “What I believe, is any hope that this council might help ease our difference was already doomed from the start, this is only another writ upon the mortuary stone.” She could not deny a certain enjoyment in the dramatic displays of her siblings, it reminded her of court back home. Unlike on Mithra, however, the arguments of today were not forgotten by tomorrow. “Perhaps it was the Emperor’s aim to expose us all thus, I cannot say, surely that was successful, although to what end I could not say.” She sipped her wine again, she had a few thoughts on that matter, none of them comforting. “Do you seek solace, or advice, dear brother? I am capable of both, but likely not at the same time.”

Micholi did consider the question… alongside the idea of refilling his glass. While the recess was a short one, if he properly took his time he was somewhat confident that his senses would be accurate for when the council resumed. Sparing his sister and and of her staff that might happen to be waiting in the wings the effort, he leaned forward to half fill his glass with wine before answering her. “You know what? I believe advice would be rather welcomed. As tempting as solace is, I doubt it would be helpful.”

“Stop trying to placate the others, they have aligned themselves opposed to you, they are fighting this as they fight all their wars. With grit and hatred. Look to your allies, confer with them, convince the one voice that truly matters.” Her words were not without her usual soothing, Mithran tone, but they were stern all the same. “I doubt you will win many new friends, but you may just earn respect, and there is little enough of that around these halls.” She mused for a few moments, before adding in a disarmingly light hearted tone. “And the next time someone dares call you a traitor before the Emperor himself, take one of their eyes, you are in need of a spare.”

Micholi waved the last statement away. “I’m already having a new one grown to replace it. Besides, the loss of an eye is a small price to pay in order to be…” he paused for a moment as he was about to say ‘one of’ as he actually thought about it. “...Actually, has anyone else ever won a one on one duel with Nelchitl before? I confess that I don’t often pay attention to her rants about honor and glory, but I feel like an eye is a small price to have paid to be able to be one of, if not the only one of our family to do so. If for no other reason then the fact that it would irk her to no end.”

Still, the rest of her advice was rather sound. “I assume you speak of Eiohsa’s rather sassy representative… provided of course she hasn’t been executed or murdered yet. I admit my speaking to Usriel and Augor would be a… poor idea at the moment, because despite the fact that I know they would be in support of the Edict, it is purely for religious reasons. I suspect however that the fact that I have taken a somewhat firmer stance on xenos right might have just caused a rift between myself and Daena through… even if I don’t regret the decision and I have no intention of backing down now. I’ve made enough compromises just to get the Edict to exist in any given form, I’m not going to let it be brushed aside out of mindless hate.”

“Upon the nature of your beliefs, to the extent you do or do not share them with the others, I have little and less to comment, but it is beyond past the time you speak to each other outside of the main stage to come up with some cohesive approach. I would offer such advice to both sides of this debate.” The Mithran’s next sip of wine was even more lazy in its motion, one elegant hand slowly tipping the goblet to her lips, perhaps demonstrating her lack of optimism as to the recent displays of her siblings diplomatic ability. “There is a saying among the Northern tribes, make peace with wolves, so that you may hunt the panther at your throat.” Dipping once more into the wisdom of her homeworld, the Primach’s melodious tones became more distinct in the influence of her accent, before she once more smiled at Micholi. “Will that settle for advice?”

“Yes it will. Thank you Sekh.” Micholi offered politely before he started to sip from his glass of wine. “So… that all being said… how might I swing you to the side of being pro edict? Yes, I am well aware of the fact that you are largely neutral in the matter, but I don’t see any harm in asking what it might take to change your mind.”

With one eyebrow raised at the shortening of her name, the Mithran primach took a long sip of wine, before swirling the goblet gently, her eyes studying the liquid of its surface rather than her brother for a moment as she seemed to consider her options, or perhaps simply wished for the other primach to stew in the moments of thought.

“I have little experience with Xenos by the standards of many of us, although my daughters and my own limited experience has been largely negative, earning the faith of new worlds for the Imperium by defending them from rampaging hordes, exterminating orcs, running off eldar raiders.” She mused casually, reclining further back into the cushions of her seat. “But I am not foolish enough to entirely define my principles by my own experiences. The Edict is important to yourself and Daena, yet its removal is important to Nelchitl, and I value both my sisters dearly. Order is my concern, and so far neither side of this issue results in any great amount of that.”

For what it was worth, Micholi did look somewhat confused by his sister’s reaction. “I admit Sekhmetara, one would think that Sekh would be a natural nickname for you… but if you dislike it I’ll simply drop it and never bring it up again.” He clearly didn’t mean any offense by it and he was earnest in his offer that if she didn’t want to be called that again, he wouldn’t.

Leaning forward a little, he paused just long enough to consider his words before nodding his head. “I confess, it is a stance that I cannot help but respect, sister. While there were reasons that the savage Greenskins and the Eldar were rightfully excluded from the Edict in the first place, your personal experience has for the most part been negative but you’re wise enough to acknowledge that there is more to the matter then just your personal experiences. It’s a level of maturity of thought that one cannot help but wish others shared.”

Another split second of thought before he added “If I could run an idea by you. I was intending that, when the matter was brought to the table again, that it might be beneficial to start off by explaining why the Edict is the way that it is… the story behind how it properly came to be, an abridged version of where the Emperor’s experience and wisdom was made use of and what the long term hopes and goals for the Edict were because… as much as some of our siblings are utterly shocked by my view that some xenos races deserve respect, I was fairly open with the Emperor about my intentions. If nothing else, it would dispel the idea that I was trying to undermine and fool the Emperor because he was made aware from the start.”

“But while that sounds good from my perspective, I think now might be as good a time as any to seek out an outside opinion.”

“If you wish to make the statement for you own sake, to stand it as a record of your honour in this matter, then so be it. I have made clear my advice that I think little you will say will sway those set against you. Better to seek out your allies and  unify yourselves so that you may argue your case to the Imperium as a whole. That is the mistake that has been made throughout this conclave.” This time, she did not interrupt her response with sips of wine, instead setting her focus until the last of her words were spoken, the goblet left dangling from her fingers.

“Oh, I’m well aware of the fact that the truth wouldn’t be enough to sway anyone who has quite clearly planted their flag and intends to die on the hill in defiance of the Edict. But if nothing else it would prevent them from being able to claim that I misled the Emperor or lied to him about my intentions.” Micholi answered easily enough before a sigh escaped him. “I won’t try and swing you to my side sister. I am aware that you have close relations with people on both sides of the argument and I can respect your desire to remain neutral on the matter. That being said, I’m happy to take your advice... “

His words trailed off as he glanced around, a small fraction of concern on his features as he asked “Sarghaul’s crude comment to Daena really upset her, didn’t it? I cannot help but feel like she would have returned by now otherwise.”

"Those are words which should harm us all, brother. A slight against one sibling is a slight against all." Sekhmatara's finger stroked the rim of her wine, the glittering gold of her nails sparkling faintly over the dark surface of the liquid within. "But I shall have to locate her, a protest is one thing, a delay is another." As she spoke, she stood, abandoning the wine on the counter as she did so, her features turning upon Micholi with a fair smile. "Alas, I must abandone my duties as a host on this task, I will inform out winged sister that you wish to speak with her." The Mithran primach lent down to press a diplomatic kiss to her borther's cheek, anticipating the same in turn, before the prepared to leave. "Good fortunes in the areana of debate, brother."