The Telgradian was renowned for his stoicism, but even he had to fight the urge to protest the show in front of the Faun’s private kingdom. Likely, it had not been Philomel’s intention, but his very public “escort” into the room, the expressions of mock incredulity etched on the hundreds of faces of the Gilded Lily members and Philomel’s deliberately loud announcement made him feel alienated and isolated almost immediately. But, this was the game they played. He closed his eyes and sighed to himself; he shouldn’t have been worried about them, but all day he had been concerned about what they would think of his words. It was exceedingly difficult to find the right tone of conciliation, if he could at all, but Shinsou had eventually resolved that it was a far greater victory to help them see through his eyes than to close theirs forever.

Suck it up. You had it worse in Telgradia, with a much tougher crowd.

“Can’t say I feel comfortable, to be honest, but it’s nothing I haven’t been through before.” Flicking strands of dark hair out of his face, he looked up at the Faun, and made sure that she caught his eyes, before turning to the gathered Lily. Some of them whispered amongst themselves, gesturing to him in various ways, some rude and some not. Then, the room fell quiet as they waited with baited breath to hear the words of their oppressor. Shinsou did not wait to be invited to speak.

He didn’t have to.

“I have no doubt there are going to be a lot of mixed feelings in this room tonight,” He redirected his gaze to the various faces in the audience. His hair and clothes were still damp with the remnants of the constant filthy drizzle from the afternoon’s walk. His bones ached with the seeping cold, but his eyes were like fire, “So I want to set the record straight, once and for all. Firstly, a few formalities. For those who don’t know, the Assembly and the Brotherhood have negotiated an armistice that will put an end to hostilities, as long as certain conditions are met. As the person jointly most responsible for the damage caused to Radasanth by the Brotherhood, I have agreed that we will make reparations to the government for our part, and, as soon as is practicable, withdraw from Tylmerande. After this, we will continue to help with the aftermath of the calamity that affected us all.”

The Telgradian looked around to judge the reaction of the hostile crowd. He could feel the mood had shifted slightly, but there was still work to be done.

“That brings me to the reasons I am here, of which there are three. The first one is that the Assembly felt it would be better suited to have me under the care of the Lily, instead of standing trial, so that my actions and words can be monitored. I can already see there are many of you out there who disagree with this decision, and I do not begrudge you this opinion. That is yours to have. But, nevertheless, I am here, and whilst I am here you can rest assured that I will cause no trouble and will respect this place as I would respect my own. ”

The horizon of the hall remained obscured by shadows, caused by menacingly evil clouds that had haunted the heavens all day blotting out the sun outside, and this obscured some of the faces in the crowd. Shinsou could not decide whether his words would have any effect on the grieving and angry women below.

“The second reason, as you have probably heard, regards planning for the destruction of a Brotherhood splinter faction simply calling themselves the Castigars. They are led by a man called Arius Mephisto, and we will, together, hunt down and eliminate this threat to our newly established peace. Philomel will brief you more on this later.”

Arius…the cunt, The Telgradian silently mouthed, feeling a shiver run down his spine at the mere mention of Mephisto’s name.

Shinsou readjusted his stance once again as the Vaeron emerged from behind him, obviously wanting to look the Telgradian in the eyes to determine whether or not he could trust the words he spoke.

“Thirdly,” Shinsou declared, turning directly to Philomel. He stood in front of her, and knelt, his head bowed as the faun’s eyes widened in surprise. She had never seen the Telgradian bend the knee to anyone before, and could never imagine he would be open to such subjugation so publicly. “You, Philomel van der Aart, who leads the Lily and so courageously stood against us for what you believed in, to you I owe more than I can ever repay. I offer you my apologies for the hurt and pain our campaign caused you and your lily, I offer you thanks for your steadfast loyalty to me even in my darkest hour, and I offer you my sword in defence of the Lily and the Coronian ideals we now need to uphold.”

“Thank you,” He repeated with a slight subconscious bow as Philomel reverently retrieved the offered sword, Enpera, from her pledge. He slipped back a pace as the Lily collectively whispered in a barely audible rasp, smiling softly to himself. The balance of his words, he hoped, had allowed for greater prospects of reconciliation.

In the background, Raine’s face flickered briefly from scepticism to a grateful expression. The momentary emotion was well controlled, especially for a human barely twenty five years of age, but not well enough to escape Shinsou’s notice.