"Nothing permanent?! By that line of thought, none of your abuses by the Templars were permanent." Merrill is, obviously, shocked -- her voice is shrill. She cannot believe the nerve of this woman, and her grip on her staff tightens. "They will have to live with this for the rest of their lives -- the way they came to help and were betrayed. Just as you have to live with what happened in the Circles."

She takes a deep breath, trembling slightly -- she is furious, but someone in the group has to have a cooler head. She turns her attention to Vidal, trying to catch the other woman's eye.

"We would have helped as best we could had you only just asked. I understand panicking, doing things you regret as a result, but keeping them is only making it worse. Sometimes you have to stand up against those you would rather get along with because it's the right thing to do."

Another breath, this one a little less shuddering. "Help us help our friends and we will remember it. Do the right thing and we can do right by you."