"Frey might have been more appropriate, given the flowers that came later," he admitted with a rueful tilt of his chin. "But Safrin and I... have never quite seen eye-to-eye when Amalia isn't around. I'm a bit too full of myself for her taste." She had reason for it as she had shown him, as viscerally and painfully as possible. He shrugged, trying to pass it off lightly. "Or perhaps I just don't have much luck with the ladies?"
His smile softened as she extolled her happiness with Bastien, and he was glad the fickle man had finally settled into a more reliable and loyal mold. "I remember," he murmured about her first husband, but that was enough said about the winged excuse for a prince. "Pittore? What sort of creature is he?" the bard asked curiously. A cat? A bird of some sort? Something else?
Her own question earned a lopsided grin that was a little faded as he looked away. "Rory and I are well," he said quietly, "but LongNight took its toll on us both. The monsters... tried to trick him into opening the door at the farm. It was... it's left scars on us both." His mate had always been prone to dark moods, but the false-Karlia's visit in the last hours of LongNight had made them worse, and even the joy of Flowerbirth hadn't been much of a cure. "But I've been staying busy. Doing some recruiting for the Guild, making new friends, and catching up with old ones," he added with a smile for Rex. "Not to mention preparing for the festival! Do you have any plans for it this year? Helping with the Artist's Build booth or dancing or such?"
His smile softened as she extolled her happiness with Bastien, and he was glad the fickle man had finally settled into a more reliable and loyal mold. "I remember," he murmured about her first husband, but that was enough said about the winged excuse for a prince. "Pittore? What sort of creature is he?" the bard asked curiously. A cat? A bird of some sort? Something else?
Her own question earned a lopsided grin that was a little faded as he looked away. "Rory and I are well," he said quietly, "but LongNight took its toll on us both. The monsters... tried to trick him into opening the door at the farm. It was... it's left scars on us both." His mate had always been prone to dark moods, but the false-Karlia's visit in the last hours of LongNight had made them worse, and even the joy of Flowerbirth hadn't been much of a cure. "But I've been staying busy. Doing some recruiting for the Guild, making new friends, and catching up with old ones," he added with a smile for Rex. "Not to mention preparing for the festival! Do you have any plans for it this year? Helping with the Artist's Build booth or dancing or such?"
