Hadama had the advantage of age and lived experience, though it was one that only time would grant Sohalia as well. He knew his fellow rulers were as mortal and fallible as he was, and that no one bore up lightly under the burdens of leadership.
Well. Perhaps Dantalion did. The sharp-toothed young man was difficult for the mermanta to read, as different as they were from each other.
But for the rest, he found some solace in knowing that he was not alone. And that, so long as the topics did not risk regional secrets, he could reach out to Evie.
Or Sohalia.
Who may have been young and inexperienced, but who had grown swiftly under the pressures of her position, and who was growing wiser and more seasoned every time he saw her. Her words drew a nod of agreement and understanding from the Tidebreaker, and he took another slow sip of his tea as he considered them. "Would it be harder," he said, his words slow as he considered each one before speaking it aloud, "to continue as Stormbreak's Heart? To bear the weight and the cost now that you know them? Or to walk away, if it meant the region becoming leaderless?" And all the potential dangers associated with that state, as the world slipped perilously closer to the brink of its next apocalypse?
Well. Perhaps Dantalion did. The sharp-toothed young man was difficult for the mermanta to read, as different as they were from each other.
But for the rest, he found some solace in knowing that he was not alone. And that, so long as the topics did not risk regional secrets, he could reach out to Evie.
Or Sohalia.
Who may have been young and inexperienced, but who had grown swiftly under the pressures of her position, and who was growing wiser and more seasoned every time he saw her. Her words drew a nod of agreement and understanding from the Tidebreaker, and he took another slow sip of his tea as he considered them. "Would it be harder," he said, his words slow as he considered each one before speaking it aloud, "to continue as Stormbreak's Heart? To bear the weight and the cost now that you know them? Or to walk away, if it meant the region becoming leaderless?" And all the potential dangers associated with that state, as the world slipped perilously closer to the brink of its next apocalypse?
