Isla bit Remi? A silver brow arched in surprise, a faint frown creasing his forehead. Hadn't Sam said something about the bite causing feelings of lust? But Remi and Sam were... a conundrum for later, unfortunately, as Jigano followed the story as it unrolled - this time with at least a little more structure and sanity behind it. He wasn't given a chance to relax, though, his brow furrowing further at the unexpected revelation that Samuel - native-born, cautious, fearful, obedient Sam - had left the shelter of the Temple, the locked doors, the moss-packed-windows and gone out into the night for... a single creature? A deer that may well have been pulled down by hungry wolves or feral dogs in the natural course of things?
The luxere were a little different, of course. They were protectors, but still, was the life of one worth the risk to so many? But before the bard could ask, Sam went tense and upset, and Jigano bit back his comments to listen in silence and wait as long as his friend needed to make it through the nightmare story he related. If he thought of it that way - as a ghost story, a fictional tale - it was easier to hear. His frown smoothed away, but it was to a carefully controlled neutral expression, almost blank as his eyes found a point above Sam's head and stayed there, unseeing, while images conjured by the bookmaker's words played the tale out in his head.
If only he had made it to the Infirmary before night had fallen, he would have been here. He might have been able to stop Isla.
But... if he had, would he have gone out to investigate the destruction of the perch? Would they have been able to get the rope threaded through the top ring so the crossbeam could be raised without him? And even if they had, would there have been anyone able to get an antler to Rory during that last final, horrible push of violence and victory, when Edy had grabbed Amalia and run, leaving the hunter behind?
What if, what might have been, what could have been, what should have been...
What was. Unchangeable. Lost or broken of left undone or unsaid... and never to be recovered the way it had been before. Cold, hard truths that a lorekeeper accepted and collected no less than those that brought aid and happiness.
Taking a shuddering breath, the Lorekeeper came back to himself, looking at Samuel and seeing him again. Blue eyes were unreadable, shadowed with conflicting emotions, but he bowed his head with a flicker of his old graciousness. "Thank you, Sam. So, to be sure I am clear on this: you and Isla and some others went to help a hurt luxere. But the luxere was a trap, and the monster inside attacked and killed Isla. When you came back and told Remi he went out after her and somehow... he found a way to have her resurrected, but as a unicorn rather than a woman? Do you know... is she still her own person or..." he hesitated, thinking of Isuma, of Bobi, of Sugar and of the books Isla had found for him to read up on companions. "Is her heart bound to his, now?"
If Sam was telling the truth - and Jigano believed that Sam thought it was the truth, but that didn't make it easier to wrap his head around just yet - then his friend of the laughing blue eyes and golden hair... might have survived, but their friendship might not. He felt Isuma's emotions, after all, and they affected him, as his could do to her. Remi's antipathy towards him, his belief that the bard was cruel and manipulative... would that eventually color Isla's opinion of him? Would he lose her still, due to a twist of mocking fate and a young man whose humility was so intense that it curved right back around again to arrogance?
He exhaled, weariness layered on fear layered on physical exhaustion and mental strain. Feeling far older than his twenty-seven years he settled into the pew at last, his mind picking up on a stray thought, utterly out of place. "I wonder if she will still want to be part of our guild," he murmured softly. "If she cannot speak to us or turn pages anymore..."
The luxere were a little different, of course. They were protectors, but still, was the life of one worth the risk to so many? But before the bard could ask, Sam went tense and upset, and Jigano bit back his comments to listen in silence and wait as long as his friend needed to make it through the nightmare story he related. If he thought of it that way - as a ghost story, a fictional tale - it was easier to hear. His frown smoothed away, but it was to a carefully controlled neutral expression, almost blank as his eyes found a point above Sam's head and stayed there, unseeing, while images conjured by the bookmaker's words played the tale out in his head.
If only he had made it to the Infirmary before night had fallen, he would have been here. He might have been able to stop Isla.
But... if he had, would he have gone out to investigate the destruction of the perch? Would they have been able to get the rope threaded through the top ring so the crossbeam could be raised without him? And even if they had, would there have been anyone able to get an antler to Rory during that last final, horrible push of violence and victory, when Edy had grabbed Amalia and run, leaving the hunter behind?
What if, what might have been, what could have been, what should have been...
What was. Unchangeable. Lost or broken of left undone or unsaid... and never to be recovered the way it had been before. Cold, hard truths that a lorekeeper accepted and collected no less than those that brought aid and happiness.
Taking a shuddering breath, the Lorekeeper came back to himself, looking at Samuel and seeing him again. Blue eyes were unreadable, shadowed with conflicting emotions, but he bowed his head with a flicker of his old graciousness. "Thank you, Sam. So, to be sure I am clear on this: you and Isla and some others went to help a hurt luxere. But the luxere was a trap, and the monster inside attacked and killed Isla. When you came back and told Remi he went out after her and somehow... he found a way to have her resurrected, but as a unicorn rather than a woman? Do you know... is she still her own person or..." he hesitated, thinking of Isuma, of Bobi, of Sugar and of the books Isla had found for him to read up on companions. "Is her heart bound to his, now?"
If Sam was telling the truth - and Jigano believed that Sam thought it was the truth, but that didn't make it easier to wrap his head around just yet - then his friend of the laughing blue eyes and golden hair... might have survived, but their friendship might not. He felt Isuma's emotions, after all, and they affected him, as his could do to her. Remi's antipathy towards him, his belief that the bard was cruel and manipulative... would that eventually color Isla's opinion of him? Would he lose her still, due to a twist of mocking fate and a young man whose humility was so intense that it curved right back around again to arrogance?
He exhaled, weariness layered on fear layered on physical exhaustion and mental strain. Feeling far older than his twenty-seven years he settled into the pew at last, his mind picking up on a stray thought, utterly out of place. "I wonder if she will still want to be part of our guild," he murmured softly. "If she cannot speak to us or turn pages anymore..."
