[SE] Ignore all the burdens that you keep

Tryin' to wash away all the blood I've spilt
This lust is a burden that we both share

Maea's unwavering support was a welcome constant in Liam's life, one that, these days, he wasn't certain he wanted to live without. Her question made him pause, though, because it was harder to voice the things he didn't like about himself, the things that he felt made him undeserving. "When I was younger, I wasn't experienced enough," he said after a moment. "I hadn't seen combat, I wasn't a veteran dragoon, and so on - and it seemed like, I don't know - prerequisites, I suppose, at the time. Now I suppose I still feel like I'm not..." What was the word he was looking for? It went beyond just not being strong enough, but he wasn't quite sure what it was that made him hesitate. "I guess I just feel like I should have some sort of purpose. Like I should be contributing to the world, somehow. Otherwise, why would the gods see fit to grant me such a wish?"

It was a hole in his chest, these days. When he'd become a Friend of the Family, he'd found himself unmoored, unsure what to do or where to go, because he didn't know how he - small, insignificant, weak - could be of use to the Family. And now that they were gone, he didn't quite know what to do with himself in a world where no one other than him seemed to miss them. Once upon a time, he and Maea had aspired to put the Greatwood back on the map, but now...

Now he wasn't sure what he wanted, or what she wanted, or how they might move forward with such a plan.

But his thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of something on the horizon, and he joined Maea in squinting towards the hills, his hand on the hilt of the sword strapped to his side. He might not have turned in his quest yet, but he was still formidable even with a basic sword. "Looks like it," he said after a moment, during which the forms seemed to be growing bigger.

Two sinners can't atone from a lone prayer
Souls tied, intertwined by our pride and guilt

Liam