Sulaiman knew that he shouldn't speak during this conversation because all he knew about the organization was what Priscilla had told him, but when he saw the panic in Priscilla's eyes, he couldn't sit idly by. He could tell that she probably couldn't respond as quickly as Kavil would have wanted with her restrictions, and Sulaiman had tacitly agreed with Priscilla about keeping the information from Kavil, so this situation was partially his responsibility.

It proved disastrous.

The betrayal in Kavil's shaking eyes as he realized that Sulaiman knew too stung like a knife between the ribs, sudden and unexpected enough to make your heart stutter and breath catch. The worst part was that every argument that Kavil shot back was reasonable and Sulaiman had no good rebuttal. The hurt and fear that flashed on Illnyea's face stung too, like a slap onto the still bleeding wound, and Sulaiman had to believe that she only left the room to go after Kavil and not because she couldn't stand to look at him.

Sulaiman didn't normally care about other's opinions of him – he had grown up in a world that was populated by people of subpar intelligence that thought he was little better than a monster – but he felt oddly moorless as he stared at the doors slowly falling shut, pulled insistently along by gravity.

Sulaiman had never realized just how hot shame could burn in his gut, hotter than any cursed black flames he could summon, as he realized how much he had hurt Kavil by keeping his silence.

Priscilla stared after Illnyea and Kavil in her shock, her chest rising faster and faster and her breaths coming out in sharp, staccato bursts. Tears collected on her lashes and she whispered, "No, no, no."

She stumbled out of her chair, leaning against the table to get momentum to attempt to run around the corner towards the doors.

Sulaiman lunged, grabbing Priscilla by the bicep to pull her to an abrupt halt. The material of her sleeve nearly made his grip slip, but he turned her back towards him.

"Sit the fuck down, Priscilla," Sulaiman ordered, glaring down at her.

Priscilla struggled against his hold as tears rolled down her cheeks. "I have to fix this! Let me go, let me go!"

"If you go out now," Sulaiman said, grabbing Priscilla's other arm to stop her flailing so she didn't smack him, "you're only going to make everything so much worse."

"You don't know that," Priscilla snarled, her fingers reaching up to dig into Sulaiman's arm, her green eyes wide and desperate, like a cornered beast that saw no other way out.

"I do," Sulaiman snapped, pulling her closer so she'd actually focus on the words he was saying. "In the state the two of you are in, you're going to say things in anger that you can't take back and compound each other's pain."

Sulaiman knew all too well how words said in passion could shatter things beyond repair, like he had with Aldren, the wrong words tumbling out of his mouth in his desperation and panic and only ended up pushing Aldren away. He had chased away the only person in the world that had shown him kindness because he spoke thoughtlessly, and that was a lesson that was difficult to forget.

He couldn't let this rift between Priscilla and Kavil be a permanent thing, a gorge carved so deep into their relationship it could never be mended, and if it meant that Sulaiman had to man-handle her, so be it.

"But I could–" Priscilla said, and Sulaiman cut her off. He hauled Priscilla to the side until her back was facing the table, and then he pressed on her shoulders until she was sitting on it, feet dangling and ensuring she couldn't try and sprint away again.

"But nothing," Sulaiman said, letting go of Priscilla. The sudden movement and relocation seemed to have caught her off guard, her breath stuttering as she stared at him. "There is nothing you could say right now that will make Kavil feel any better, not with your limitations, and frankly, I don't think he'll believe anything you say right now."

They lapsed into silence as Priscilla's gaze slowly fell down until she was staring at her hands. Despite changing most of her outfit the moment they returned, she was still wearing that same pair of fingerless gloves she had bought in Grazda.

Priscilla's shoulder shook as she shrank in on herself, wrapping her arms around her abdomen as if trying to tuck herself out of existence. Her long hair fell forward to shadow her face, the damp strands oddly lifeless as they brushed against her arms. The only sounds that filled the room were her hiccuping sobs she had given up trying to stifle as her nails dug into the fabric of the fine dress, tangling up with the ends of her hair but she didn't seem to care that she had pulled out several strands.

Her eyes were vacant in a way that disturbed Sulaiman – Priscilla was meant for larger than life expressions, wide, mocking smiles, sharp and cocky glares, loud and unrestrained laughter. She wasn't meant to look as if her spark of life had been stolen away, swept right the door after Kavil and Illnyea.

Perhaps it was foolish, but Sulaiman hadn't realized just how much he had truly come to care about Priscilla until this moment as his mind came up with a half-dozen things he could try to try and comfort her, and rejected them all because they weren't good enough, some too harsh, some too weak, some too accusatory, and some were plain stupid.

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Words were slippery beasts, the perfect ones refusing to land upon the tip of his tongue and he was beyond frustrated with himself, fists clenching and unclenching because he couldn't fix the problem in front of him.

The dig of his own nails in Sulaiman's palm gave him an idea of one thing he could do. It wouldn't fix everything, but it was something and Sulaiman seized the idea like one did a liferaft at sea.

Slowly, carefully telegraphing his movements, Sulaiman pulled up a chair in front of Priscilla, his knees bracketing her legs just in case she tried to make another run for it. He reached for Priscilla's left hand, tangled up with her hair and dress, the nails still digging in hard enough it was sure to scratch the skin beneath. She tilted away from his touch and Sulaiman paused. She still wasn't looking at him, so maybe it was just an instinctual reaction, and Sulaiman slowly bridged the gap until his fingers brushed against hers.

When Priscilla didn't twitch, he pulled at the fingers that had the most hair captured, slowly untangling the strands from her knuckles. Priscilla's fingers were stiff but Sulaiman was insistent and patient and hyper-focused on this singular task because it was the only thing he could do.

When he finished the first hand, Sulaiman laid the now limp fingers against her lap, and then tenaciously worked on the hand, taking great care to do as little damage as possible to her hair since it seemed Priscilla took great pride in it.

The last of the hair fell against her back and Sulaiman finally looked up, glad that the sounds of crying had finally faded completely.

Priscilla was staring down at him, tears resting on her lashes but defying gravity and making her eyes glimmer like gems. An oddly vulnerable expression was on her face, like she didn't know why he was putting in the effort and it scared her. Sulaiman didn't know why, but he had seen this expression flash across her face before, like Priscilla couldn't understand that other people genuinely cared about her.

Idiot.

"I fucked up," Priscilla whispered. "I think I might have ruined everything."

"Don't say that," Sulaiman said, strangely irritated by the way she attempted to put the blame squarely on her shoulders.

Priscilla's lips trembled. "But–"

Sulaiman decided to take a page out of Priscilla's book.

He reached over and pressed his palm against Priscilla's mouth, stunning her into silence as her eyes widened with shock. Sulaiman leaned in, the right words finally coming freely to him as irritation coursed through his veins.

"You need to shut up now," Sulaiman said firmly and her soft lips twitched against his callouses and he ignored it. "You're going to listen to me, and you're not going to try and say a single word, especially not if you're attempting to take all the blame like you're the only one culpable in this situation."

Priscilla blinked but nodded, sending the unshed tears down over his hand. But no new ones replaced them and that pleased Sulaiman.

"I could have told Kavil about this at any time," Sulaiman continued, his words clipped, "and there have been moments when I had the opportunity to do so and I chose not to. I know that you think you forced me into silence, but I am my own damn person and you do not dictate my thoughts and actions. While I didn't agree at first when you wanted to postpone it, I eventually understood that it would take time for you to prepare yourself because of the geas that's been placed on your knowledge."

Priscilla hadn't twitched, her dark green eyes never leaving him as if she was spell-bound. Sulaiman leaned in to make sure that his words struck true and lodged deep in Priscilla's mind, like a hatchet thrown into a tree.

"There is something I need you to get through that thick skull of yours," Sulaiman said softly, enunciating every syllable so there was no room for misunderstanding. "You are not perfect. You're going to make mistakes and you'll continue to make mistakes, I'm sure, but the best thing about being human is that we have chances to fix them as long as we're alive.

"Putting in a way so that you can understand," Sulaiman said with a faint smirk, "you fucked up, but that doesn't mean that you're a fuck up. Give Kavil and Illnyea some space, and then figure out how to fix the problem when your heads are cooler."

Sulaiman finally pulled away his hand, a little surprised to see a faint red imprint remain on Priscilla's face. She didn't seem to mind, staring at him with that same, oddly vulnerable expression.

"That's…" Priscilla swallowed, as if at a loss for words. "That's one hell of a pep-talk, Sulaiman."

Sulaiman was not sure exactly what a 'pep-talk' was, but if Priscilla was using words that made no sense, she was probably going to be okay.

"And it's the best one you'll get out of me," Sulaiman said, pulling back to cross his arms over his chest. "I'm fresh out of advice for idiots."

Priscilla laughed weakly and it sounded rough and slightly painful, but it was a laugh and that was leagues ahead of the emptiness. She just stared at Sulaiman for another long moment, tilting her head and sending the waves of red hair crashing over her shoulder.

"How long do you think I should wait?" Priscilla asked.

Sulaiman wasn't sure how he had become the king of conflict resolution, but he said, "I plan to speak with Mr. Ordan to see if he wanted to prepare a second room for Kavil, because I didn't know if he'd still want to share the same room tonight. I don't think he would want to speak with us until tomorrow at the earliest."

Priscilla slowly nodded. It was odd to see a version of Priscilla that was so agreeable. "Do you think we should write out letters of apology?"

"I was going to read," Sulaiman said slowly, because he needed some quiet downtime to figure out his own apologies, "but that could be a good use of your time considering your restrictions."

She nodded her head again slowly before reaching up and wiping at her eyes. They were still red when she pulled back her hands, but there was renewed focus in the emerald depths, a spark of determination.

"I'll go find some ink and paper," Priscilla said firmly.

Sulaiman scooted back so she could stand.

Instead of immediately leaving the room, Priscilla hesitated, glancing at Sulaiman.

"Not to be…" Priscilla's voice trailed off before she sighed and fidgeted with her glove, gaze averted again. "Not to be needy, but will you sit with me? While I write them?"

The tone of her voice suggested she expected to be rejected, like Sulaiman was some heartless criminal who took joy in squashing her ideas.

What an idiot.

Sulaiman sighed, standing up.

"I need to grab my book from my room," he said, brushing past her on the way to the door, "but I suppose I can accompany you. As long as you're not the type to talk while you write."

There was a moment of silence and then Priscilla was walking by his side, hands crossed behind her back as she said, "I suppose I can be quiet. You just can't think too loud in my direction or you'll ruin my concentration."

Sulaiman rolled his eyes and gave her a flat look.

Though shame still lingered at the back of Sulaiman's mind, the laughter that peeled from Priscilla's throat told him that maybe, just this once, he had found the right words.

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