Olivia opened her mouth to respond to Juliette when the blind man, Sanguine, spoke up. Slowly a slender ebony eyebrow arched up but quickly her curious expression was replaced with a smile of pure amusement; she was thankful that the man was blind, for he may have found her expression offensive. There was no mistaking the bitterness in his tone and she couldn’t help but grin as he referred to the Nydewian delegation as a ‘hit squad’.<br/><br/>Juliette soon flashed her a look of warning before she could say anything but Olivia simply smiled at her in response. As always her smile was warm and disarming; Olivia had a way of putting even the most suspicious of minds at ease, even when she was just about to plunge a metaphorical knife in their back. However there was also a strange look in her eyes; a mixture of amusement and curiosity.<em>Milady, are you worried about me?</em>her eyes seemed to say.<br/><br/>“I can understand your concern, Mister LeChance,” she said warmly, her tone showing no hint of malice or annoyance at his interruption. “However I assure you that our presence here is not the result of a deeper conspiracy to pressure Aserit into accepting unpleasant terms of peace. As you know the Kingdom of Nydewia has intermittently engaged in warfare with both Theiri and Aserit and as such it is fitting for both parties for us to be present.” She paused for a moment before continuing, this time her voice containing a subtle hint of a threat directed at neither Kingdom in particular. “Nydewia, like everyone present, is here to protect their own interests and sovereignty. I assure you that we will not be making peace with either Theiri or Aserit unless we are completely satisfied that it is in our best interests.”<br/><br/>Although she didn’t want to make Juliette concerned she also didn’t want to project any illusions that the Nydewians were here as Theirian puppets to strong arm Aserit. Aserit had absolutely nothing to worry about if they were smart. If anything the presence of Nydewia could work in their favour, so long as they were capable of striking a better deal.<br/><br/>As if on cue Henrik suddenly spoke up, pointing out that Sanguine was under his contract and not that of Aserit, along with his reasons for hiring him. Olivia couldn’t help but smile more with every word he said, finding that the more she came to know Henrik, the more she found they had in common. This fact was certainly coming to earn him her respect, not to mention her very watchful eye. She had known right from the beginning that Henrik would either become her closest ally, or her greatest nemesis. “I couldn’t agree more, milord,” she said sincerely. “It is better to err on the side of caution than to be negligent with one’s safety, particular in the heart of what was once enemy territory.” Smiling warmly she looked around at everyone. “Surely there is no need for hostility between us. After all, with all of our nations engaged in war already a peace summit would be the perfect place for all of us to be, wouldn’t you agree?”