Shinsou's 'theatrics' (as Storm probably would have called them) had gone down well with the assembled Gilded Lily, and their voluptuous leader Philomel. At least, that's what the Telgradian had ascertained from the mild buzz of chatter drifting through the hall. The gathering seemed far happier to tend to their meals and idle banter than to ridicule or even assault him, and this was something he was happy to roll with. But, even this being so, the mention of Arius Mephisto suddenly brought forth a new nervous tension.

The timing of the treachery of his former right hand man had ended up unwittingly serving two masters, a political one and one of bought time, but there was still a very real danger attached to physicality of what the faun was suggesting. This pushed the conversation in a new direction, of which Shinsou suddenly found himself the uncomfortable purveyor of. For all intents and purposes, he was assigned to the Lily to keep him a prisoner, whether his show of faith to Philomel had been genuine or not (it was). But did that prevent him from taking personal decisions on his own vendettas?

The spellsword stared briefly at the sky for unavailable answers, and then decided to throw in his lot. Shinsou was sure he’d discern something here either way, whether it be the limitations of his freedom or how much his newly sworn fealty to Philomel and the Lily bought him in terms of goodwill. The Telgradian took a breath, settling his heartbeat. There was something reassuring about the reaction he had gotten from his speech, and if he was going to test the limits of what he could and could not do whilst in service to the faun, then he’d to know what she was prepared to accept from him.

"With your permission, I'd like to go with you. I can sense him when he's nearby, and I feel that we'd be more efficient with our time and resources if we minimised the amount of ground we needed to cover."

Shinsou waited for a reaction from the faun, having to stamp down the urge to push his luck further. Ironically, she now filled several conflicting roles in his life. Jailer and protector. Leader and lover. Could she fulfil all of these? If so, how?

The question rested on his lips as he doused them with water from a cup in his hand, waiting for confirmation.