It was cold and dark down in the warehouse's basement. Draven could not even cycle Essence to keep himself warm with the Essence-draining armbands locked onto his arms. Draven threw a rock at the wall. It ricocheted off, bounced off the iron bars of their cell, hit the sink, and finally landed in his hand.

"Would you stop doing that already?" Sygvar sat up from lying on one of the two beds in the cell. "I'm trying to get some sleep, and I can't do that if you keep making noise!"

Draven clicked his tongue and stared out the barred cell window at Luna. "We wouldn't be in this mess in the first place if we had brought it back up like I suggested," Draven whispered.

"What was that?"

Draven turned to face Sygvar, a flaming anger burning behind his eyes. "We should have raided this place like we did, club love. Why are we going around trying to negotiate with them? We are Al'Manti, trained and bred to be the best warriors in Sol."

Sygvar shook his head. "You forcing people to cooperate with you through violence may seem like a great idea at the surface level. And it will work in the short term. But all you would have accomplished is making an enemy a friend who will one day betray you. Sometimes, you need to fight with words instead of your sword."

The lock to the basement door clicked open, and the door screeched open. Draven and Sygvar both stopped talking and waited. Multiple footsteps made their way down to Draven and Sygvar's cell, coming closer to reveal Pami, Mydren, the prison warren, and a bald, pale woman.

Pami first looked at Draven, and then her eyes drifted towards Sygvar. "You were the two Al'Manti who attacked the Club Love meeting. Why would you two kill Arken and Eron? I don't see how you could gain anything from doing so." Pami turned and pointed to the bald, pale woman. Oh, and Anna, here is a truth slayer. If you lie, she will know and tell me."

Sygvar jumped out of bed. With a bright smile, he rushed over to Pami and stuck his hand through the cell bars. "Hi, I'm Sygvar. It's nice to meet you."

Pami just stared at him without saying a word.

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"Draven and I are Al'Manti, warriors of the people. We are trustworthy people. We didn't kill Arken and Eron. Raylen and Egwene did.”

Mydren laughed, his loud, deep voice booming off the basement walls. "Why would Raylen do that? He and Arken were allies."

"There is less conflict with one head leading a cause than there is when two heads are," Draven spoke up from his spot on the ground.

"Exactly!" Sygvar agreed. "We wanted to capture Arken and Eron, not kill them."

"I guess that would be plausible," Pami agreed. She turned to Anna, "Is what they say true?"

The bald monk nodded.

Pami returned to Sygvar, "That still doesn't explain why you two are here? If you wanted to capture me, wouldn't you have come with more people?"

Sygvar shook his head, "We want you to help us stop Raylen before he unleashes his hoard of Hollows. All it would take is for one of them to still have the Blight for the infection to spread once more."

Pami chuckled, "Now the government wants our help after they have ignored us for so long. Why should we help you?"

"Mayor Nero said he would implement any reasonable demand you have."

"Reasonable demands? How do I know what would be reasonable?"

"He didn't give any criteria. He just said to report all your demands to him, and then he will decide what to do from there."

"Don't trust a word that he says is," Mydren said. "You can't trust the government. Their power is built on lies."

Pami nodded, "Until we have something official in writing, we will not be helping you. We have our own plans. Plans involve getting as far away from Raylen and his people as possible."

Draven shot up from his spot on the ground and rushed towards the cell bars. "You would abandon your people? The people that you have been fighting for all these years?" His voice was harsh, on the verge of shouting.

Mydren rushed forward and pushed Draven to the ground, "Mind your words, boy! No one speaks to my sister like that!"

Pami placed a hand on Mydren's shoulder, "Calm down."

Draven picked himself off the ground, "Then I'll swear an Oath."

Sygvar wurled around to face his disciple, "Are you mad!? You will do no such thing!"

Draven turned away from Sygvar to face Pami, "I will swear an Oath if that's good enough for you."

Pami looked to Ana, and the bald monk nodded her head. "It seems like you're serious." She paused for a moment, then locked eyes with Draven. We'll work with you if you try your best to meet our demands. And you don't have to swear an Oath. I'm not such a vain woman as to put that much pressure on a young man's shoulders."

Sygvar smiled, "Thank you so much." He bowed before Pami, "We will meet your demands. We will make sure that this reaches the Trinity council."

Pami then turned to the prison warden. "Pull these men out of their cell and uncuff them. I'll send a document with a list of our demands." Pami began walking towards the exit; Mydren and Ana followed behind her.

"Yes, mama!" the warden saluted Pami as she left.