The mist rose around them, pale and wispy in the light of the sun but no less powerful for its thinness. In its wake bruises and cuts were healed and their bodies were left refreshed even if their souls were still burdened. Hadama watched Sohalia afterwards for a long moment before turning his gaze out to sea to follow hers, content as always to stand in silence even if that silence no longer held the easy warmth it once had.
The words that broke that silence were not unexpected. Hadama drew in a deep breath of salt-laden air before letting it out slowly. His thoughts were held close, each word examined with care before he spoke it with quiet deliberation.
"I was... uncertain. After Flora was healed of the Infection." He turned his head to look at the Luminary once more, unsmiling. "I had prepared a ruse. To pretend that I had not received her letter and therefore the Rose it led me to. So that she would let her guard down and let me close." He paused, waiting to see if the former Heart understood. "But... she informed me that you had told her about delivering the letter to me. Her healing came down to luck and brute force, Sohalia. It was... terrifyingly near to failing." He watched her without anger, but also without forgiveness. "I lost trust in you." The admission was deceptively simple for all the weight it carried.
He drew in another deep breath and looked away, back out over the endless waves. "But I did not fail. And now the Family and their threats are gone. Most of them." His jaw tightened briefly. "Tarak's loss was... painful. A reminder of how unexpectedly we can lose the ones we love. I... regret the distance that I have put between us now. But I do not know how to mend it."
The words that broke that silence were not unexpected. Hadama drew in a deep breath of salt-laden air before letting it out slowly. His thoughts were held close, each word examined with care before he spoke it with quiet deliberation.
"I was... uncertain. After Flora was healed of the Infection." He turned his head to look at the Luminary once more, unsmiling. "I had prepared a ruse. To pretend that I had not received her letter and therefore the Rose it led me to. So that she would let her guard down and let me close." He paused, waiting to see if the former Heart understood. "But... she informed me that you had told her about delivering the letter to me. Her healing came down to luck and brute force, Sohalia. It was... terrifyingly near to failing." He watched her without anger, but also without forgiveness. "I lost trust in you." The admission was deceptively simple for all the weight it carried.
He drew in another deep breath and looked away, back out over the endless waves. "But I did not fail. And now the Family and their threats are gone. Most of them." His jaw tightened briefly. "Tarak's loss was... painful. A reminder of how unexpectedly we can lose the ones we love. I... regret the distance that I have put between us now. But I do not know how to mend it."
