A blood-red paw

The priestess did not have to wait long for Kove, to her relief. The male responded promptly, trotting towards her and stopping in front of the rock on which the new mother perched. He bowed his head and greeted her, and Meldresi merely responded with a "Good evening, Kove."

She again made the dye, the blood red and bright mixture that was used to mark Slade and Bane but it was smaller than the batch from before, since she had only one man to mark. She kept swirling it, both absentmindedly and in an attempt to keep it from freezing.

"You came to the meeting when I discussed joining my religion, but I was distracted by Raissa, and I never continued asking you," she said in a way of apology. "But tonight, I will formally ask you if you wish to join the Dark Brotherhood."