As the Faun’s delegation looked on in anticipation, Shinsou contemplated his words carefully, first reaching across the table to pour himself a glass of water before swirling the contents and gulping it. Whilst he was pleased to be talking to Philomel van der Aart, he was also wary that in doing so he was also now bound by his words to the Assembly in this impromptu diplomatic…situation. Any careless talk on his part would only serve to superheat tensions and immediately coarsen the atmosphere, something he wished to avoid before he’d even been taken into the Lily’s care, but simply handing over Tylmerande to the Assembly without at least some modicum of a timetable was something that could not be countenanced, for a whole host of reasons.

Setting the empty glass on the table in front, he looked up and found Philomel’s eyes across the oak surface.

“I’ll start by outlining the situations we face, and then tell you what I propose,” The Telgradian said, leaning back to allow one of his aides to place a stack of papers in front of him. He thumbed through them briefly, before continuing. “Our first problem is that at this moment in time Tylmerande is under the joint administration of the Brotherhood and the Assembly. Right now there are many complex, interdependent issues that prevent us from just leaving; for example, there are existing trade agreements, customs arrangements and local government legislation that all need to be repealed and then replaced entirely in the Assembly’s name before we can stop our involvement here. As I’m sure you’ll understand, the sheer volume of these alone means that won’t happen today.”

Philomel’s eyes were searching every inch of him for any hint of deception; she, and the Assembly, wanted them out as soon as possible and this probably sounded like an excuse to cling to power. Shinsou knew all too well that his previous political meandering gave him a reputation, one which was probably fully deserved, but in this case earnest goodwill was his intent. He now had to convey this in the best way possible.

"I want to clarify in the strongest possible terms that our occupation of Tylmerande is effectively over,” Shinsou leaned forward, his tone more sincere and less formal than before, “We know it, you know it and the world knows it. As soon as the existing laws and agreements here are torn up and re-written, we will return to, and stay in, Whitevale. We-”

"Can you commit to that in writing?” A delegate from Shinsou’s side of the table, representing the Assembly interests, cut him off roughly.

"As soon as Storm Veritas is present to countersign with me, yes." Shinsou picked up a pen and tapped its end against the table. “Unless you want to start ignoring your own laws? Both myself and him are jointly culpable for Brotherhood operations here, and we must both sign the document for it to be legal.”

“Shinsou, can you be sure Storm will sign?” Philomel’s words were like a blade that cut through the reverie of everyone present. All eyes fell to Shinsou.

Shit.

The Telgradian mused for a second, hoping his delay wasn’t too telling. Shinsou couldn’t speak for his friend and certainly could not commit him to anything in his absence. He also couldn’t be sure that both his and Storm’s goals in Tylmerande were absolutely congruent with each other. Financially, Tylmerande was supporting a lot of other sub-operations of the Brotherhood, as well as paying for reparations to Radasanth. Whilst Shinsou might have been happy to forgo some of that revenue to stay out of Terrinore, he wasn’t entirely sure that Storm didn’t have some sort of dependency on that income. The electromancer might have been setting other plans in motion to cover the inevitable losses from withdrawing, and could possibly need some time to get things straightened out; time which Shinsou would now have to buy him at the negotiating table.

He knew exactly how to do it.

“I have no reason to believe he won’t, but he’s currently occupied with our next complexity; Arius Mephisto,” Shinsou said smartly, sliding a dossier on Arius across to Philomel and her contingent, “You may have heard of the attempt on my life by this man, hence my injuries. He was my most trusted advisor, but he tried to stage a coup after our armistice at Radasanth. He, and a faction within the Brotherhood who known as ‘The Castigars’, broke away from us. They swore to subsume us, before then finishing off what we started in Radasanth. That means we have a rogue element of the Brotherhood prepared to wage war on two fronts.”

The Telgradian used the moment’s pause to assess whether the gravity of the revelation had caught the Assembly’s attention, coming to the conclusion it had. One of Philomel’s group raised a hand, politely.

“It’s a little worrying we are only hearing of this now. How well equipped is this faction? Is it realistic to expect they have the resources to attack Radasanth and fight the Brotherhood too?”

Shinsou donned his coat again from the rear of the chair, a draught biting his skin as he hustled around.

“I’ve been unable to inform anyone of the scale of the problem as I’ve been recovering from a bullet wound. The faction itself is well armed, but financed only by limited funds that were siphoned from our treasury; about twenty thousand gold pieces. On experience, that will last them about three months after rations and pay are drawn. But make no mistake; it is not the standing army that worries me. Arius himself is extremely powerful; he was able to nullify Storm’s magic, survive my own and used a portal to escape. Make no mistake that he is a grave threat to security in the region, especially with Radasanth weakened. This is why Storm’s pursual of him must be an absolute priority whilst I am out of action. I hope you understand.”

The Telgradian had applied all of his political weight to this meeting, hoping his argument put an end to any of Philomel’s mistrust. Hefting his pained body back onto his chair, he swung his eyes hard against the Faun’s own gaze.

Come on. You have to believe me here, Phi, we want out. We just need time.