There's a faint grunt of acknowledgment from Alistaire, followed by another pause.

"I don't want to be like them, that is, the worst of them. At the same time, what happens if I show them my back? The near future isn't now, and..." There's a very faint clicking noise as his jaw locks for a moment.

"Shinobi just attacked my holdings."

Even as imbalanced as he is right now, Alistaire can't bring himself to verbalize fear for his life. His ego won't allow it.

"I'm stuck. Can't move up, can't move out."