When the meeting finally broke up, no one left the table a winner; but that was how compromise was supposed to work. Elise was no longer an officer. If things went really bad, she wouldn’t even be a guildie anymore. Echo was essentially a prisoner. Pita was worried Elise hated him now, though he was being dramatic. Moltar had lost his first staring contest. Even Astredian, who had finally taken a match off Moltar, didn’t feel like he’d won anything at all after hearing what happened to Echo.
The guild commander felt drained, his face a little pale after taking in the rogue’s tale. Even Moltar wasn’t unaffected; the oathbreaker pushed back from the table with a long, deep sigh. Pita had actually teared up when the rogue explained how he had crawled from the cellar as his clothing burned, a
