Patience was easier when weariness bore down upon his sinking soul, exhaustion dulling the edges of things and making time run strangely. He sat through the young woman's silences with a deceptive appearance of calm, though inwardly he was wondering at Ludo's phrasing. When Kiada finally spoke he blinked as if waking from a dream, focusing back on her with a slight tilt of his head.
A tale of lost love, of death and grief and incalculable pain, told in a quiet, even voice that should have broken his heart to hear it recounted so matter-of-factly. For a moment Jigano did, indeed, wonder if Ru'in's loss on another world answered Kiada's question, but she continued with the story, and he exhaled as a flicker of wonder made it through the dark. So many of those Helovians had made it to Caido, even more than those from Northhaven. So mean dead Helovians, resurrected upon Caido soil that it was beginning to feel like this really was the afterlife of Are'a ravings, at least for that distant world. How soon before they outnumbered the Naturals that were born here?
A whimsical thought that was quickly snuffed as Ru'in's tale ended in blunt, bitter death. He turned his eyes to the ring, feeling an odd tug of possessiveness at the silver fox ring, so similar to the silver fox charm he had made for Rory a year ago, and the urge to snarl and snatch it from her left him tense and shaking all over as he wrapped his hands together to keep them from such an unforgivable theft.
The withdrawal of the ring helped to center him, and so did looking at her eyes instead of the ornament upon her finger. "No," he agreed quietly. "The souls of those killed by monsters during Long Night do not all make it to Ludo. You may thank the Ascended for that," he added, bitter and losing the battle at hiding it. "The Voice made her toys and then she abandoned them, uncaring if they broke. And so they started breaking other things in their madness."
He sighed, realizing only then that his hands had curled into fists. He relaxed them slowly, taking a breath to steady himself as he met her black-marbled gaze with his own, a wry ghost of a smile haunting his mouth. "I was looking for lost souls when you interrupted me in the Underground, calling to them with the gifts Ludo gave me for such a purpose. I plan to do so again come Long Night--" If he was still able, that was, "--and I will seek your Ru'in in particular when I do."
A tale of lost love, of death and grief and incalculable pain, told in a quiet, even voice that should have broken his heart to hear it recounted so matter-of-factly. For a moment Jigano did, indeed, wonder if Ru'in's loss on another world answered Kiada's question, but she continued with the story, and he exhaled as a flicker of wonder made it through the dark. So many of those Helovians had made it to Caido, even more than those from Northhaven. So mean dead Helovians, resurrected upon Caido soil that it was beginning to feel like this really was the afterlife of Are'a ravings, at least for that distant world. How soon before they outnumbered the Naturals that were born here?
A whimsical thought that was quickly snuffed as Ru'in's tale ended in blunt, bitter death. He turned his eyes to the ring, feeling an odd tug of possessiveness at the silver fox ring, so similar to the silver fox charm he had made for Rory a year ago, and the urge to snarl and snatch it from her left him tense and shaking all over as he wrapped his hands together to keep them from such an unforgivable theft.
The withdrawal of the ring helped to center him, and so did looking at her eyes instead of the ornament upon her finger. "No," he agreed quietly. "The souls of those killed by monsters during Long Night do not all make it to Ludo. You may thank the Ascended for that," he added, bitter and losing the battle at hiding it. "The Voice made her toys and then she abandoned them, uncaring if they broke. And so they started breaking other things in their madness."
He sighed, realizing only then that his hands had curled into fists. He relaxed them slowly, taking a breath to steady himself as he met her black-marbled gaze with his own, a wry ghost of a smile haunting his mouth. "I was looking for lost souls when you interrupted me in the Underground, calling to them with the gifts Ludo gave me for such a purpose. I plan to do so again come Long Night--" If he was still able, that was, "--and I will seek your Ru'in in particular when I do."
