Won't see many clean cups in prison...
Faliol takes the offered seat and downs the offered brandy in one quick gulp. As the liquor detonates in his stomach, he calms down a bit.
"Thanks for the brandy, Sir. I have a sorry tale to tell you. I would be a liar if I told you that I am not tempted to fabricate a story to make my actions seem better than what happened in reality. Maybe if you were not the same man that lead us to victory against those Reavers and the Riven, I might even have given in to that urge. But here is the plain and simple truth..."
Faliol sighs and then gets on with the difficult task. Every moment he delays is a wasted opportunity to help his friends. He lowers his eyes in shame and begins his sad story...
"Our problems began when we left Adala. Another caravan, lead by a Merchant Bergen, was heading this way and offered us a chance to travel together, pooling our resources. Miss Hamilton agreed, since they seemed like decent folk...on the surface. Wait, that isn't fair. Most of them are decent folk to my knowledge, except for one that caused all the trouble. His name was Arkis. An Adept, a thief, and a kidnapper. He is the source of all our troubles. He stole a Holy Book from these psychotic fanatics called the Yaraza. We first learned something was wrong when they tortured and killed a priest and his wife at a Sanctuary near Adala. At the time, we didn't know why they killed those people. Then they attacked us, killed our friend Handle and Konnur's brother, whose name I can't remember, I am ashamed to say. Just too damn tired to think straight. Anyway, they poisoned Pops, Bergen, and most of the animals in a second attack. Then those psychotic bastards told us what they wanted and we found out that Arkis had stolen their stupid book. When ordered to give them back the book to end the attacks, Arkis grabbed my Pops and used him as a hostage, claiming that if we gave him the horse I rode in on, he would take Pops here and get him treatment. I gave the signal to my friends to attack and kill that piece of shit resulting in Pops getting his throat cut. I then stole that horse and left those people to fend for themselves as I rode here with Pops."
Faliol looks into Mako's eyes for the first time so he can understand the sincerity of his next statement. "Sir, I know it was wrong to steal that horse and leave them there but my Pops is the last family I have on Earth. In truth, he is the only family I have ever known. When Mr. Nuyok told me that the only way Pops would live was to ride non-stop for Fort Lizard, I made a hard decision to steal that horse and get him here at best possible speed. (snort) The only reason I even joined the Hamilton Caravan was to keep him from getting killed in the wilds. (Sarcastically) I did a real good job of keeping him safe... Well now you know the story. Unless you slap me in irons, I intend to lead a relief party to those people and bring them in safe. I know that my word isn't very credible, but I promise you by all I hold dear that if you help me rescue them I will surrender to whatever punishment the law deems fit to attribute to my crime. But justice will have to wait until those two caravans are saved. After that, do with me as you will."