He did not seem to recognize her, but Aleksandra reminded herself it had been quite a long time since they had last seen each other.  Maleki looked different than she had expected as well, he was harder than she expected.  She did not remember him as a soft person by any stretch, but it seemed as if life had taken it out of both of them in different ways.  Or perhaps she was creating similarities where none really laid.<br/><br/>“I wasn’t trying to listen, I was looking for you...Or rather, your father, but it is what it is.” She might have sounded  disappointed, though that was not her intention.  Aleksandra forced herself to straighten her back and stand tall, the others were already out of the door and he did not seem pleased to remain here with her.<br/><br/>“We knew each other, years ago.  Your father and mine were friends until...” There was no real need to bring up the pain of the past and it was unlikely to help her case in this matter.  “Your father was a good man that my father should have done better by.  I think that was something he continued to regret for years.”  It would not heal the old wound, it might even make it worse, since Maleki’s father was gone...But it was important to her to share that fact.  Her father would have wanted her too.<br/><br/>“I am Aleksandra Stalhammar.  My father was Lord Rollo.  I came here after I escaped a coup in Hammarfell, I thought I might find your father and...request his aid.”  Request had not been the word she intended to use, but it felt like he might react badly if she said she had intended to beg for his help.  Aleksandra took in a deep breath and looked up at him, trying to get a measure of the man he had become.  Their worlds were so different than what she might have expected when they were children.  “I do not know if you remember him, but Lord Sebastian LeVane garnered favor with some of the other nobles and set them against my father...He took my father and my sisters from this world, but left me alive.  I think he believed he force me into a marriage and add legitimacy to his claims on Hammarfell.” As she recounted the story the images of all that had happened filled her mind.  LeVane had not only killed her father, but he had ensured he wanted as her sisters were murdered as well.  She could still hear their screams, she could hear her own voice trying to stop what was happening.  It had been no use.  LeVane only wanted her alive.<br/><br/>“Your father was an honorable man.  He owned me nothing, nor do you, but I cannot retake Hammarfell on my own...”