"So you were going to stop but you didn't care for my timing?"

"I panicked. Thuringwethil walks right up here and wants to talk with you and we can't refuse her, that was the whole idea, but I don't trust her at all and then you're fleeing through the palace on her word to do magic and then it turns out she told you the truth which doesn't change the - spread over possible motives of hers - very much but does mean that the war ending is now in the hands of someone who justifiably hates me and everything else is just gone -"

"I checked with Findekáno before I ran down to de-oath him, I don't typically go smearing blood on people without their permission."

"Findekáno said to me earlier today that maybe I was so afraid of having all prospects of ending the war in your hands because I secretly think everyone is like me. I don't - think I think that - but I will confess it took far longer than it should have for it to occur to me that you'd have had permission."

"...it did not even occur to me that maybe you thought I was doing random undesired magic to Findekáno and doesn't make that much sense as an explanation in retrospect either considering you felt the need to torture him which is a genuinely insane response to the situation 'he was helplessly chained to the wall and a madman burst in to paint him'."

"After I asked you for an explanation and you said 'what am I doing' I asked him and he explained. At that point I had all relevant information and haven't even the most tenuous of excuses."

"After that is when you escalated from domestic abuse to - I don't even have a word."

"Yes."

He opens the door.

Cor goes in.

Findekáno is not chained to the wall. He's just sitting there. He looks mildly surprised. He mostly looks at Maitimo.

- hi, he says to Cor.

Hi. He says I can de-oath you.

How generous. Do I need to do anything -

Nope.

"Is there a cow on the way -"

"Can they just bring the blood if they're timely about it? Cow doesn't fit."

"Yeah."

Blood is delivered.

Cor paints.

He holds still.

When the painting is done Cor chants, out loud.

And there is a flash of dark and Findekáno is de-oathed.

He blinks.

He shivers. 

"Thank you."

"I won't stop you if you leave but what I wanted was for you to be a mage so if Cor and Ranary get killed it's not over."