Before you go. [There's a swell of warmth to her words, even if she is simmering underneath all that with anger. Lexa knows that she comes from a place in life where simply being dismissed isn't something that she handles well. It's the kind of warmth that would typically lead to her acting on the anger itself once she got someone closer to her.

She won't be doing that here.

For the most part.]

I apologize again for my offense. [Clipped and smooth. Lexa does her best to be genuine again, and again, only half succeeds. Her people don't always favor that kind of warmth. Mara Jade's lessons are remembered, but not always ... practiced. (Or ever practiced.)]

I'm simply concerned with where my people will be at the end of this. We stand to lose a great deal. [It sickens her to ask for pity, to present themselves as wanting it. They can be strong. They can fight. She has fought. But she still feels as if she's blind, and the idea of enlightenment at the end of it all—

Frankly, it makes her scoff, knowing of the Flame and the rituals associated with it.]