The two men sat stonefaced, staring at each other, knowing their truth. The silence only broken by a slight tap-tap-tap of a finger on a tea mug. Curioso glanced at Annette, she was oblivious. Her finger tapped, eyes quickly moving back and forth over the rim of the cup, and she chewed the corner of her mouth. The only thing missing, he thought to himself, was the worn stripe in the persian rug where she used to do her pacing. Paris never seemed further away than it did at that moment.

When she finally spoke, it was to declare, "Très bien...it is decided for us."
"What is decided, dear lady?" spoke Tirseng
She sighed, and dropped the mug to her knees. "We return to the valley."

Incredulous, the two men spoke in unison, "What?!" "Non, écoutez moi...Until he is stopped, Dominic will only continue this madness. We could try to run, to warn the travelers on the mountain, but the chances of us actually reaching them in one piece are nothing. Mais, he is not expecting us to return, is he?

"Tellement très simple, we go back. The sherpas and Bierce know nothing of our conversation here, and according to Tirseng they are trustworthy to that point. Luckily," she gives an impish grin to Curioso, "they have only seen you in your weakend condition. Let the ruse stand. We are taking you back, unassuming, to recover your self in paradise. We mourn the loss of dear Mallory in public, and in private, we assess."

"Assess what?" whispered Tirseng
To which Annette hissed, "Plan of attack."
"Attack? How could we possibly?"
"By going with what we already know, Snowleopard. This master of misinformation wants a game, a game he shall have. We are all still alive for a reason. Curioso, you are the boucle de laiton. A good he cannot hope to possess or demolish, but thusfar only play with as a toy. The Snowleopard, a means to his own end, perhaps, but also our strongest weapon. And all feminine wiles aside, without me, he has no bomb." She paused and looked at each man in turn. "We cannot separate ourselves. At this point, that is given. If I return, you two are dead before you leave the valley. It is the same for any of us. The key would be in finding to which of these spots he is weakest, and concentrating our engergies there. Strike hard and fast." She took a deep breath and stared once again at the rim of her cup. "I say we take our audience with the Prince Lunatic..."