Samuel
How can you say that your truth is better than ours?
Shoulder to shoulder, now brother, we carry no arms
Sam was so used to traversing the portals between regions (and had no nauseous reflex) that he hadn't even considered Zeph might find the experience disconcerting. Had they been doing anything else he might have realised this was the man's first time in the Hollowed Grounds, but the potential threat of his death at the hands of the other Ascended or loyal subjects to the lost Queen kept him from considering it too much.
It was clear that Zeph was grumpy from the tone of his voice and Sam sighed, supposing he probably deserved it. "...Well, why don't we take a break? And I'll...start explaining." He gestured to a flat-topped stone wall, big enough for them both to sit and look over the fields and not too covered in snow: for Zeph's sake ( a wet bum for an Ascended was practically meaningless) he took off his coat and laid it over to make a better surface for sitting on.
"Um..well..." Once they were settled, Sam supposed there was nothing to do besides just come out with it. "This is going to sound ridiculous, but I mean it. When you were gone at the Fingers, I received a message from another Ascended...a message that said a decision I had made here, um, something I had helped to put in place..." He looked off, took a breath: Sam knew he was trying to stall having to actually say it, but who wouldn't? "Killed someone. Two people, actually. One of them was the Queen..Rexanna. She was...my friend." His voice quiet and unsure, he stared down at the ground, blinking back tears and waiting for Zeph's judgement on that before he moved on.
It was clear that Zeph was grumpy from the tone of his voice and Sam sighed, supposing he probably deserved it. "...Well, why don't we take a break? And I'll...start explaining." He gestured to a flat-topped stone wall, big enough for them both to sit and look over the fields and not too covered in snow: for Zeph's sake ( a wet bum for an Ascended was practically meaningless) he took off his coat and laid it over to make a better surface for sitting on.
"Um..well..." Once they were settled, Sam supposed there was nothing to do besides just come out with it. "This is going to sound ridiculous, but I mean it. When you were gone at the Fingers, I received a message from another Ascended...a message that said a decision I had made here, um, something I had helped to put in place..." He looked off, took a breath: Sam knew he was trying to stall having to actually say it, but who wouldn't? "Killed someone. Two people, actually. One of them was the Queen..Rexanna. She was...my friend." His voice quiet and unsure, he stared down at the ground, blinking back tears and waiting for Zeph's judgement on that before he moved on.
The blind man sleeps in the doorway, his home
If only I had an enemy bigger than my apathy I could have won
