I don't want a whole lotta might-have-beens

Sam almost couldn't believe it when Remi gestured to all of him. He had felt the sting of insinuations of his race being the cause in his words, but this was blatant; just plain and simple. It was because of what he was. Because he was Ascended, so therefore all of his friends now believed him to be evil, to want to ruin Caido. "Let me tell you what I think. I think a lot of people went to the woods when they could. The blight started long before I went there, and it continues without any Ascended there." The tears that had been threatened in his face before came now, streaming from his eyes as he yelled, his voice breaking. "It could have been any of the other people who went, or the Fae, or the Gods, or just something Natural. But everyone has immediately assumed it was us." He shook his head in disbelief, in pain, in a wish for denial. "You've all been waiting for a chance to blame something on us. I thought it would come sooner. I let my guard down - I knew I made people uncomfortable, but I thought they might come around...look at it now." He threw his hands up and tipped his head back in a gesture of hopelessness. "Ronin is hurt, and instead of coming to me as a friend, you come to me as an accuser. Ready to blame me for something I didn't even know was happening." SAMUEL How could a night so frozen Be so scalding hot? How can a morning this mild Be so raw?