"Yes, we know," Dean said, because everyone knew. Sebastian had refused Nero in a very stern way, and Nero had backed down.
Sebastian's mouth curved faintly, without warmth. "Then the temple's conclusion is already weak."
Arion's eyes sharpened; he knew Nero, but he didn't say anything about it. "Because Nero respected the refusal."
"Because Nero respected the refusal," Sebastian repeated. "Not happily nor gently. But he did."
Dean looked down at his plate.
He remembered that too. Nero had not liked being refused. That had been obvious even to people who had not known him since childhood. But he had stopped. He had waited.
A dangerous kind of waiting, yes.
But waiting all the same.
Sebastian leaned back, the marquis now fully present in his posture, calm and cold enough that Dean almost forgot he had just been told his future might contain a shift, a siren type, Nero, death, and Roslew falling.
