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The table fell quiet again as they waited for Graves’ response to that one.

Diego was quite uncomfortable. Frankly, he felt those demands were rather unreasonable to be asking of Graves, and by the look on the Lord of House Zabat’s face, Diego was getting the feeling that the man had still more demands left in mind.

“...Parson Miles is not under my command,” said Graves. “I can petition Lamont or Sermung for his removal, but the decision will ultimately fall to one of them. Which I’m sure you already knew, Lord Santos. So why are you asking me for things that you know I cannot provide?”

“Fourth, reparations for the nigh incalculable damage that the Vanguard has helped bring upon Sair and its citizenry.”

Graves closed his eyes and sighed. “I see.”

Diego did, too. Or at least, he thought he did. Santos had built up the severity of their case and was now going to steer the conversation in the direction of money. Whatever other demands Graves failed to provide could potentially be made up for by adding even more zeroes to the money offered.

Or in other words, it was a way for Santos to drive up their price.

A shrewd strategy. And one that Diego expected would not sit entirely well with everyone. Personally, he was all for it. He’d always felt that they should be trying to turn a profit whenever they could, but he knew only too well how strongly some of his kin felt about mercenary work. “Unbefitting of Rainlords,” were the words that often got thrown around.

Would they see this differently? Maybe. If Lord Santos could convince them, too, perhaps.

Hmm. Knowing him, maybe he could pull it off.

From there, the meeting continued for a while longer, and it played out about how Diego expected it to. Lord Santos kept hashing out terms with Graves, but ultimately, before anything could be formally agreed upon, there was yet more work to be done--work that no longer involved the marshal, who eventually excused himself.

Several of the Rainlords dispersed as well, but the heads all remained in order to continue negotiations among themselves. Diego had the opportunity to leave--and maybe go enjoy the casino floor, since it was technically his day off--but he didn’t take it. He wanted to hear everything Santos was going to say and be here to back the man up, if he needed it.