Nothing there for you to see

KORBIN

And round about his home the glory
That blushed and bloomed,

There was a story to be told there, under the Healer's silence. It tickled the raven's curiosity, made him want to poke and prod and lay it bare. But he decided that they didn't know each other well enough for that yet,  and let the subject drop.

He listened to the disjointed tones instead, judged the timbre and color Loren produced with the offhand patience of someone who could do better but didn't feel the need to correct anything.

"You could, and I wouldn't blame you if you did," he replied calmly. "Because I would back anything she did in an instant and defend every awful decision she ever made, even if I don't agree with them. That's what family means here. That's what everyone in the Citadel expects yours to be." And if they weren't, then it was only another reason why the Launceleyn family had no business sitting as Warden over Halo. How could they keep the people together if they couldn't even keep their family united?

He accepted the instrument back. Considered it for a moment, then resumed his own playing. It soothed his nerves, to make music. "If I had my lute, I could make this waiting a whole lot less tedious," he murmured, half to himself.

Is but a dim-remembered story
Of the old time entombed.