His smile did not fade. It died on the spot. Skandra's eyes closed again. Hands slipping through the bars fell away from his face. His forehead pressed hard into iron. Still that swimming buzzing, endlessly droning, as though he would never be rid of it. Had to remember to ask Leironuoth and Aeotha if they'd ever heard anything like it. Needed to ask Aeotha to forgive him, some time. His thoughts were slipping about, loose and uncoordinated. That wasn't the way you survived. You survived by... you survived by...
"Actually, it's you that has to stay," Skandra turned his head toward Leironuoth; his eyes did not open. "Fenrir is going to be coming soon, and good as the Magister is, Ilúvatar can't beat Fenrir. Or maybe it's more accurate to say that he won't. He still thinks he can talk it out. I guess he forgot how Fenrir negotiates."
Aeotha made a sound in her throat. Almost as though she couldn't believe that Skandra knew, let alone remembered, how Fenrir negotiated. Skandra wished he could have told her. That buzzing grew louder against the inside of his skull. It wasn't painful. Distracting as all hell. No fire to burn. He knew because he'd always known. Not because he found out later. In that way, he supposed it was a memory, but not Skandra's memory. Someone else's recollection.
Now, that made so very little sense.
"I can prove that Guyther has made several arrangements," Skandra went on quietly. "With Ramga. With the Drow. And with... Elemmire. He's hoping they'll all destroy one another, and give him a clear path to the throne. He doesn't know that all of them plan to have him eliminated once he's outlived his usefulness. And he outlived his usefulness when the sun set on that square. Aeotha, listen to me. Guyther knows what all of them are planning to do next. If we can take Guyther alive, we can end all of this fighting and save lives. That's what you want to do, isn't it?"