Bastien sighs a little—at the thought of all of the food he's doomed to eat, of course—and pauses his work to turn fully toward Ellis, both hands still occupied with documents.

"Do you know what it does?"

The ring's position, stone facing away from Bastien, is as careful and deliberate as the evenly-spaced spiral of the chain. He slipped it midway down his pinky before Ellis came, to expunge any names already collected. He's plenty aware that that might not be enough to keep his own secret, if he gives it back.

If he'd decided for sure not to give it to Ellis before he came back, he could have just claimed to have dropped it in the sea, perhaps thrown it there intentionally as a private funeral when it seemed Ellis wouldn't return, very sorry about that.

Ah well.