He listened. And he breathed slow and deep of the night air. He considered where he had been too honest, and the cascade of misunderstandings that were only growing worse with every word spoken. And when she finished he inclined his head.
"I do not wish to fight with you, Flora. You are someone I care deeply for. Someone I respect. That has not changed. Even before you are my co-ruler, you are my friend." The other demands and accusations fell away as he held steadfast to the thread that underlay the source of his own pain. Of the fear that had struck such a frightening chord within him when he had thought that he had lost her to the Family's corruption.
He lifted his head, weary and wounded and feeling the weight of his years beneath the fiery flash of Flora's youthful pride. "I am sorry that I did not understand what you were saying at the meeting of leaders. What you intended. You fooled the Family with your words. And you fooled me." Deception seemed to come easier to the Doubletake than the Tidebreaker, but he watched her look away and was certain of her sincerity with him. "I believed that you were seeking peace with them again." It was not the first time she had reached out to Dahlia, and she had been through so much when she had been killed by the Family for her previous interference. "And I am sorry that I made you feel as if you did not matter to me."
He had heard the pain in her voice as she looked away, but he could not argue with Jack's decision. Not when he had heard the helpless frustration in the captain's growl firsthand. He could only lift his hand to press it over his heart where Safrin's healing light had flowed through him earlier, head bowed so that steel-grey hair slipped over his shoulders. There was truth in her words. She had trusted him. Relied on him. And he could not have turned her down, even if he had known how desperate a situation she would place them in. All he could do was agree, his voice soft against the lapping of waves upon the shore. "Indeed."
"I do not wish to fight with you, Flora. You are someone I care deeply for. Someone I respect. That has not changed. Even before you are my co-ruler, you are my friend." The other demands and accusations fell away as he held steadfast to the thread that underlay the source of his own pain. Of the fear that had struck such a frightening chord within him when he had thought that he had lost her to the Family's corruption.
He lifted his head, weary and wounded and feeling the weight of his years beneath the fiery flash of Flora's youthful pride. "I am sorry that I did not understand what you were saying at the meeting of leaders. What you intended. You fooled the Family with your words. And you fooled me." Deception seemed to come easier to the Doubletake than the Tidebreaker, but he watched her look away and was certain of her sincerity with him. "I believed that you were seeking peace with them again." It was not the first time she had reached out to Dahlia, and she had been through so much when she had been killed by the Family for her previous interference. "And I am sorry that I made you feel as if you did not matter to me."
He had heard the pain in her voice as she looked away, but he could not argue with Jack's decision. Not when he had heard the helpless frustration in the captain's growl firsthand. He could only lift his hand to press it over his heart where Safrin's healing light had flowed through him earlier, head bowed so that steel-grey hair slipped over his shoulders. There was truth in her words. She had trusted him. Relied on him. And he could not have turned her down, even if he had known how desperate a situation she would place them in. All he could do was agree, his voice soft against the lapping of waves upon the shore. "Indeed."
