Apionnas hisses air from between his teeth at the last remark. Glancing at the Emperor for a fleeting moment it is hard to tell if the usually calm Chancellor has lost his patience.

He takes a moment before continuing.

My Lords, I would ask you to refrain from making comments about anything outside of the immediate topic. It will simply not advance this discussion in any positive fashion.

It is common ground that we must focus on.

If I can summarise, I believe that this "common ground" could be phrased as follows.

Steeling his gaze at both men, it is with a certain force of will that he makes the following statement.

The Basileus would pardon the Caesar for not following the law of the land. He would then sanction the wedding, therefore officially recognising the husband of the Caesar's daughter as part of the royal family.

In return the Caesar would apologies without reservations for breaching the law. He would do that in the Magnaura. He would then confine himself to his holding in Egypt at the pleasure of the Basileus.

Taking a moment he hold the gaze of the Caesar before turning to the Basileus.

In response, the Basileus would acknowledge that the events leading up to the civil war and the wedding itself could have been handled in a far better fashion, and the Basileus will endeavour to address his relationship with his vassals in the future in order to avoid such incidents from occurring again.

Apionnas pauses for a moment. It's clear to both mean and also the on looking Pavlos and Tiverios, that if there is no agreement here the next option will be far different.

My Lords,

I ask you to find common ground. Either my statement above of something else.