He'd believe her someday. In the future, when they both had time to calm down and to grow past what had happened he would place the blame where it belonged. But for tonight, in this moment, there was only the sick memory of leaving her alone while he dove forward to try - and fail - to protect Sunjata. Everything that she had been afraid of, his recklessness and pride, had come true and he had lost her in the purple poison of Vox's hug.
He leaned into her strength, needing the support she provided with her arms around his shoulders and the hand on his back. He clung to the words she uttered, the reassurances and the forgiveness, and he breathed in the scent of her, woven about with the heavenly fragrance of the Rose that she had carried for him--
"You never left me," he protested, but instead of pulling away he held her more tightly. "Y'did what we agreed, an' if you'd been caught, too, tryin' t'save me... We'd both've been lost." He shook his head, pressing his forehead to her ear as his voice dropped, rough and low. "Y'did th'hard thing, love. Th'smart thing, gettin' away so at least one o' us was free. I know how much y'love me. An' I can't imagine how much courage it took t'leave me so y'could save me later. Thank you, Alys. For savin' my heart an' my soul, an' carryin' that pain all alone for so long."
He leaned into her strength, needing the support she provided with her arms around his shoulders and the hand on his back. He clung to the words she uttered, the reassurances and the forgiveness, and he breathed in the scent of her, woven about with the heavenly fragrance of the Rose that she had carried for him--
"You never left me," he protested, but instead of pulling away he held her more tightly. "Y'did what we agreed, an' if you'd been caught, too, tryin' t'save me... We'd both've been lost." He shook his head, pressing his forehead to her ear as his voice dropped, rough and low. "Y'did th'hard thing, love. Th'smart thing, gettin' away so at least one o' us was free. I know how much y'love me. An' I can't imagine how much courage it took t'leave me so y'could save me later. Thank you, Alys. For savin' my heart an' my soul, an' carryin' that pain all alone for so long."
