CaleI looked at Aidan."That's the easy question," I said quietly. "The harder one is why an Auctor of the Blade was working for the Priest — and why he was most likely oath-bound to do it."Aidan and Marina exchanged a look, concern mixing with calculation.He looked back at me. "Alright. Start talking, Cale."So I did.I told him how I entered the property. How the wards felt wrong from the beginning. How the structure suggested they were digging in for the long haul. I told him about my search through the main lodge, the fight with the other mercenaries, and how I came out of the building. I walked him through my initial contact with the Gravebound and how I caused a distraction. This time I relayed the events without trimming details for bureaucratic comfort — with greater precision and candor than I had given to any official channel. I explained how I spoke to the Priest, how I threatened him, and how we started to fight.He wasn't someone I recognized, but his style was powerful and perfectly consistent with the Veskari and Veskari-trained fighters I had faced before.I told them about the cadence of the duel. The discipline in the Veskari's stance. The way he chose his angles. The way he accepted defeat.And the way he handed me the blade.When I finished, the kitchen was very quiet.Aidan leaned back slightly, eyes lifted toward the ceiling as if rearranging information into something that made sense."Has Bonnie found anything?" he asked.I shook my head."You would know more about this than I would. Though I've always found it strange how isolated the Veskari are. They spend half their lives fighting on Second Plane worlds in the name of expansion or consolidation. It's only been in the last couple of decades that they've slowed their campaigns against the Upper Planes at all, let alone the individual Dominions in the known Strata."I (...)