He nodded acceptance of her condolences for her family. It was easier to accept them from someone who understood, he'd found, and he reached for his tea to sip it and let Kiada think about what else he had said. It was good to see Isuma and Auni comforting each other; just as his sadness and guilt had dulled the bright gryphlet's exuberant personality, so her cuddling with the luxere helped to warm some of the chill from his own chest as he waited for Kiada's words to catch up with her thoughts. He could almost hear that there was more to come, and patience was the smallest of the gifts he could give the troubled young woman.
When the words came he nodded again, his smile faded to solemnity as he listened and recognized a shadow of what she said. "But you don't need to fight alone," he said softly. "And you have already begun to reach out and find allies... even friends, from what I have seen. With Deimos, and Amalia. And me, as well." He tilted his head thoughtfully, sifting her words to build a picture of the woman across from him, and finding nothing in it that he could not also be accused of, in a certain light. "It sounds as though you have had many things to fight against in your life, and the world needs fighters, as much as it needs farmers and scholars and cobblers," the bard acknowledged, with a sad smile. "But is there anything - anyone - that you want to fight for?"
When the words came he nodded again, his smile faded to solemnity as he listened and recognized a shadow of what she said. "But you don't need to fight alone," he said softly. "And you have already begun to reach out and find allies... even friends, from what I have seen. With Deimos, and Amalia. And me, as well." He tilted his head thoughtfully, sifting her words to build a picture of the woman across from him, and finding nothing in it that he could not also be accused of, in a certain light. "It sounds as though you have had many things to fight against in your life, and the world needs fighters, as much as it needs farmers and scholars and cobblers," the bard acknowledged, with a sad smile. "But is there anything - anyone - that you want to fight for?"
