[h3][color=B2A5D5]Isai Sutor-Armaseptus[/color][/h3][sub][@spicykvnt][@MacabreFox][/sub][hr]
What was once a gentle moment with Isai's handling of his assistant, quickly gave way to one of smug satisfaction. The amusement he felt by Deia’s sudden demands and… my, is that begging? [i]A tongue that can turn locks indeed![/i] Why, if she made such a show with her magic, then why not burst through the cell and slay every guard on the way out? Aside from the obvious answer of the complications that’d arise thereof… could she? It begged the question of her ability, though he wasn’t one to test her patience on a woman who seemed to have nothing to lose – especially since that patience already seemed tested and found wanting.

Then she turned to the rest of the cell and tried to stoke the rebellious spirits of the others. The same ones who she might have once endeared herself towards, only to scoff at the opportunity and tease their mettle and make mockery of? While he appreciated her getting the cathay-raht off his back, there was such a present lack of rhetorical cohesion that he could barely stifle a chuckle! He leaned into Verena’s ear to whisper, [i][color=B2A5D5]“A note from the history books: appear weak when you are strong and appear strong when you are weak.”[/color][/i]

Truly, there were many here who appeared strong.

Amidst an uncomfortable moment of silence (or at least a moment of no one addressing the raving woman in the room), all it took was so much as a single pair of eyes to fall on him — whether accidental or otherwise, as there were many different people stuffed into the same cell and he wasn’t picky for attention — to interpret as his permission to intervene. He felt his experience made him neatly qualified, whether he considered himself a real esquire, true magistrate of the law, or not, his certainty of the law was itself, he felt, sufficient to champion its cause. He certainly knew enough to bend them to his will, if nothing else.

With a deep breath, Isai began his attempt to assuaging Deia’s nerves, [color=B2A5D5]“Because, dear madam, the crimes alleged to be committed are for either drunk and disorderly, vagrancy, or misdemeanor assault. As enumerated within the Emperor’s decree in the Imperial legal charters, such crimes are only punishable by fine up to forty septims or by… nine and a half, round up to [i]ten, hours[/i] of penance by [i]incarceration.[/i] A night in holding to cool tempers once stoked aflame! [i]No one[/i] will be rotting tonight.”[/color]

As he looked around at the other prisoners, he did not doubt that some threw more than a single punch aimed at more than a single person, and as such their sentences would be longer. Still, he hoped his words would bring some sense of calm to the anxieties already present and those that may be further stoked by the vulture woman’s words. He peered through the cell door at the guards beyond, forcing some larger man, still drunk, to lift his arm and subject the poor bard to the smell of his underarm.

[color=B2A5D5]“I don’t oft dispense with legal consult free of charge – oh [i]gods[/i], sir, [i]get help[/i] –”[/color] he continued, retching for a moment at the smell of his cellmate’s pits, [color=B2A5D5]“but I’d advise thee against jailbreak. I entreat instead: [i]relax![/i] It’s hardly worth the hundred septim fine for breaking through the cell, nor the additional thousand for each guard thou slayest en exeunt… ah, but alas, I fret that fines and incarceration will be the least of thine worries if re-captured — once the magicka reserves deplete.”[/color]

There was a pause amidst Isai’s gesticulating and grandstanding only for there to be a moment – a human moment when his eyes met hers with an earnest plea, even though he felt called to look away when the animal in her stared back – when he said in simple words, [color=B2A5D5]“There are greater battles ahead, love. Rest up.”[/color]