In the wake of Safrin's touch his serenity was renewed, even in the face of the storm that was breaking within the woman he faced. It would not remain that way for long, but as the sharp-edged glass in her voice cut at him the bleeding was all internal. Invisible. And he inclined his head in confirmation of her echoes, the words she threw back at him.
He did not try to interrupt her, however, or answer her questions, whether or not they were accusations or justifications, until she had finished. He only removed his hand from her shoulder when her hands rose, letting it fall back to his side to hang in stillness until she had run out of breath and backed away, breathing hard.
And then he took a deep, slow breath of his own. "I can be both, Flora. I can love someone and still be upset with them." He paused, searching for words. A place to begin. A way to help her see what her actions had done. To him and perhaps to others. "Jack and Sohalia must make their own choices. Listen to their hearts and decide when the love outweighs the pain." Conversations that he would not be part of, and decisions he would not influence. But he had seen the results of her actions in their eyes in those fear-stricken days between the opening of her letters and the desperate gamble in Frey's Breath.
But finally some of his calm began to crack. A tightening of the corners of his eyes. A ripple of subtle tension across his shoulders. "But you used me, Flora. Do not demean the task you set me without my consent. You can teleport as quickly as I can. You know my way of thinking better than all but Safrin. And I can be honored by your trust and still angry that you used me as a means to an end."
It was more than he usually spoke in an entire conversation, the tension rising in him with each word. But one look in her eyes and the hurt there, the shimmer of unshed saltwater, drew him back into a deep breath and a conscious release of the muscles that had bunched in shoulders and jaw. His voice softened once more, calming with effort but calming nonetheless. "There are two things different about those you name. And you know this, even if it is not fair. The Family may kill us temporarily, yes. But we are immortal, and in ways they cannot easily overcome. The risk is not the same. Not when we only place ourselves in physical danger." He raised his eyes to the stars above, tracing his favorite constellation as if seeking strength from how it watched over him even now. "And... Flora, we do not fight alone. Your parents. Sunjata and myself and Deimos. The Wild Thunder and the Messenger. Always there is another or more to share the burden and lessen the risk."
His gaze returned to his co-ruler, weary and wounded by the verbal barbs that he had drawn to himself. "I do not have the right to ask you to stay back from the fight. To hide away or do less than the other leaders. But I will ask that you do not fight alone, either, Flora. That you do not let the Family make us too afraid to trust each other."
He did not try to interrupt her, however, or answer her questions, whether or not they were accusations or justifications, until she had finished. He only removed his hand from her shoulder when her hands rose, letting it fall back to his side to hang in stillness until she had run out of breath and backed away, breathing hard.
And then he took a deep, slow breath of his own. "I can be both, Flora. I can love someone and still be upset with them." He paused, searching for words. A place to begin. A way to help her see what her actions had done. To him and perhaps to others. "Jack and Sohalia must make their own choices. Listen to their hearts and decide when the love outweighs the pain." Conversations that he would not be part of, and decisions he would not influence. But he had seen the results of her actions in their eyes in those fear-stricken days between the opening of her letters and the desperate gamble in Frey's Breath.
But finally some of his calm began to crack. A tightening of the corners of his eyes. A ripple of subtle tension across his shoulders. "But you used me, Flora. Do not demean the task you set me without my consent. You can teleport as quickly as I can. You know my way of thinking better than all but Safrin. And I can be honored by your trust and still angry that you used me as a means to an end."
It was more than he usually spoke in an entire conversation, the tension rising in him with each word. But one look in her eyes and the hurt there, the shimmer of unshed saltwater, drew him back into a deep breath and a conscious release of the muscles that had bunched in shoulders and jaw. His voice softened once more, calming with effort but calming nonetheless. "There are two things different about those you name. And you know this, even if it is not fair. The Family may kill us temporarily, yes. But we are immortal, and in ways they cannot easily overcome. The risk is not the same. Not when we only place ourselves in physical danger." He raised his eyes to the stars above, tracing his favorite constellation as if seeking strength from how it watched over him even now. "And... Flora, we do not fight alone. Your parents. Sunjata and myself and Deimos. The Wild Thunder and the Messenger. Always there is another or more to share the burden and lessen the risk."
His gaze returned to his co-ruler, weary and wounded by the verbal barbs that he had drawn to himself. "I do not have the right to ask you to stay back from the fight. To hide away or do less than the other leaders. But I will ask that you do not fight alone, either, Flora. That you do not let the Family make us too afraid to trust each other."
