[ Ashelia smiles back widely. She would've preferred something a bit more dramatic, but she'll take a momentary stunned silence and run with it. She doesn't even take offence to the Marshal not standing to greet her. See? She's made lots of progress. ]

Just at the beginning of this month. [ She gingerly takes a seat across from Sparks, crossing her legs and tucking her hamster pelt around her shoulders. ] With all the other coincidences and similarities, I'm surprised this was the first shipment of sacrifices. One would think one would try for more symmetry in one's cyclical mad plot to destroy the universe.