He might have been retreating, but he wasn't running. She caught him easily, and he didn't fight back as her fingers locked around his wrist. He stopped, but it was the stillness of marble. He stood with his jaw locked and eyes on the trail they had made coming out, not looking back even at the sorrow in Cordelia's voice.
If there were tears in his voice they had frozen in his throat, and now came out like chips of ice.
"No," he said, words clipped and as precise as the courier ever got. "I didn't tell you why. Didn't get the chance. An' you didn't ask before goin' off on me and tellin' me my 'place' in all this." He swallowed hard, finally turning his head to glare at her, wounded but burying it deep, afraid now to share the pain. "You were more interested in lecturin' me than hearin' me out. Of course I'm upset. I thought... I thought y'thought better of me than that." He looked away again, jaw firming against her tears - and his own. "That's what family is, least for a Seawright. Y'give family a chance before you go castin' judgments on 'em. But you got your opinions an' I got mine. Y'don't need to apologize. It's my own fault for thinkin'..." He paused, the words catching in his throat. Choking. There was blood on the ice but Boreal was the only one who could see it and she stayed high above, distancing from her companion's pain. "Well, never mind. Thank you for bein' honest, Miss Limore. It's good to know where I stand with you."
He pulled his hand away and started walking again, feet crunching lightly over the snow now that he was no longer trying to hide his presence. "The gods ain't fair. Life ain't fair. Y'weren't fair t'me, either. So why am I the only one that has t'be?"
If there were tears in his voice they had frozen in his throat, and now came out like chips of ice.
"No," he said, words clipped and as precise as the courier ever got. "I didn't tell you why. Didn't get the chance. An' you didn't ask before goin' off on me and tellin' me my 'place' in all this." He swallowed hard, finally turning his head to glare at her, wounded but burying it deep, afraid now to share the pain. "You were more interested in lecturin' me than hearin' me out. Of course I'm upset. I thought... I thought y'thought better of me than that." He looked away again, jaw firming against her tears - and his own. "That's what family is, least for a Seawright. Y'give family a chance before you go castin' judgments on 'em. But you got your opinions an' I got mine. Y'don't need to apologize. It's my own fault for thinkin'..." He paused, the words catching in his throat. Choking. There was blood on the ice but Boreal was the only one who could see it and she stayed high above, distancing from her companion's pain. "Well, never mind. Thank you for bein' honest, Miss Limore. It's good to know where I stand with you."
He pulled his hand away and started walking again, feet crunching lightly over the snow now that he was no longer trying to hide his presence. "The gods ain't fair. Life ain't fair. Y'weren't fair t'me, either. So why am I the only one that has t'be?"
