Jailani had stepped back to watch the interrogation of the assassin unfold. She knew these kind-hearted knights wouldn't torture the assassin if they could help it. No glory for them in making a man scream in pain in a dingy catacomb. But it was no surprise when he agreed to give up his information; she had already calculated that he could increase his pay if he helped the rebels out and then betrayed them. Whether he would succeed remained to be seen.
She jumped a little when she heard that the assassin was hired by Thalmor-supporting vampires. This sparked her interest. Any chance to hurt the group whom she had so admired, and yet had spurned her, was worth taking in her eyes. She also saw that if this rebellion succeeded, it might strengthen the Empire, and the Thalmor would not like that... Jailani kept a straight face on the outside, but inside she was grinning devilishly. "Nachael dear, I heard the name Simus... would he be the man to see in order to join this uprising?" She asked in a play-innocent voice.
Nachael, meanwhile, was soaking in all that had just transpired while the others questioned the assassin. A couple years back, he had believed he might finally be free of Jailani. He hated to see her; it brought up too many bad memories, and it tainted the good ones. By the time the assassin had finished his laughing outburst, Nachael had calmed down some. When Jailani asked about Simus, he answered almost flatly, with the slightest tone of contempt, "Don't even try to join. Your being here is bad enough for us, and being around them" he pointed to his fellow rebels, "can't be healthy for someone like you." He paused. "I know well that you can find Simus on your own. But don't. I see that you have your own agenda that you want to push- you always do- but don't. In the past when we've run into each other, it was on some journey away from civilization and we couldn't part ways. But this time you can. Nothing is keeping you here. Go."
Jailani put on her disarming smile that usually worked on other people. "Honey, you know I won't do that. I am going to join this rebellion, and then there will be something keeping me here!" she said with a chuckle. She started for the passageway to the surface, but stopped mid-stride.
Nachael called to her, "Don't call me 'honey'."
"Yes, dear," she mocked
Nachael shook his head. He walked over to the ranger who had been interrogating the assassin and extended his hand to him. "Hello, sir. I'm Nachael. Good to see more people eager to fight oppression." Nachael said in a lower voice, "You saw the woman who helped that assassin up? Through my history with her I've come to expect that she's got her own agenda behind her desire to join this uprising, though I don't know exactly what it is. Anyway, I'd like to ask a favor. Since I'd assume that you've probably known Simus longer than I, it being unlikely that a stranger would be allowed to take charge of such a situation as this, I ask that you advise the general that the woman has some ill plans which she means to carry out using our group as a vessel." Speaking louder, he continued, "I believe I caught your name earlier. Hale, was it?"
Jailani was out the door with her things by the time Nachael was done forewarning Hale. "Now to find some naive member of the rebellion who will tell me where Simus is," she thought to herself. Given her adeptness at manipulation and her jewelry enchanted to make her even more effective, this would be easy.