Deimos knew more of the previous demigods than Hadama did. The Sword had met them, known them before and during and after their transition from simply mortal to something else, and his willingness to relay that experience drew a solemn nod from the Tidebreaker. They were questions he would have to address to the goddess herself to know the truth, but the Warden's words at least gave fair warning and time for him to think over what he was willing to sacrifice for Safrin's blessings.
Being forced into someone else's feuds, for example, certainly did not appeal to the quiet mermanta.
"Hmm. That would be... difficult to accept," he agreed, rubbing a thoughtful finger over the pattern of embroidered stars upon the leather trousers he currently wore.
The question that followed his explanation of how Safrin had earned his own loyalty was, surprisingly, the first time anyone had asked it of him in such a straightforward way. It was refreshing to have it put so simply, and Hadama inclined his head gratefully at Deimos's interest before meeting his eyes with a calm intensity. "For myself, it is the power to protect my people. My loved ones." A breath, and with it, memories. "Time and again, my own strength has not been enough. I am... limited. In my magic. My shifts." As Deimos was not, now. Human, and with that humanity, possessed of options no Mer had ever known. "It was enough, in my father's time. When we held ourselves apart, and nothing threatened us. But the false moon now poisons our waters. Its creatures threaten the reefs as well as the shore." His expression cracked at last, a faint furrow of a frown marring the serene line of his mouth. "If I am allowed to keep what I have. What I am. And build Safrin's strength and potential upon it, it may be enough to tilt the balance. But if the price is to be stripped down to my bones. To build fresh from starlight alone... There may not be time to regain what was lost in the forging before it is needed again."
Being forced into someone else's feuds, for example, certainly did not appeal to the quiet mermanta.
"Hmm. That would be... difficult to accept," he agreed, rubbing a thoughtful finger over the pattern of embroidered stars upon the leather trousers he currently wore.
The question that followed his explanation of how Safrin had earned his own loyalty was, surprisingly, the first time anyone had asked it of him in such a straightforward way. It was refreshing to have it put so simply, and Hadama inclined his head gratefully at Deimos's interest before meeting his eyes with a calm intensity. "For myself, it is the power to protect my people. My loved ones." A breath, and with it, memories. "Time and again, my own strength has not been enough. I am... limited. In my magic. My shifts." As Deimos was not, now. Human, and with that humanity, possessed of options no Mer had ever known. "It was enough, in my father's time. When we held ourselves apart, and nothing threatened us. But the false moon now poisons our waters. Its creatures threaten the reefs as well as the shore." His expression cracked at last, a faint furrow of a frown marring the serene line of his mouth. "If I am allowed to keep what I have. What I am. And build Safrin's strength and potential upon it, it may be enough to tilt the balance. But if the price is to be stripped down to my bones. To build fresh from starlight alone... There may not be time to regain what was lost in the forging before it is needed again."
