He bristled again at the emphasized jab, but that needle was nothing compared to the knives that followed, or the expert way she flensed back his defenses to lay bare his secret fears and internal demons. He froze as she shrugged, caught in shock at how easily he was seen through, though it shouldn't have been a surprise. She had done it before, after all, when he had been far more vulnerable and desperate.
He had thought himself better prepared to face her today, willing to brave her sharpened silver tongue to find word of Ludo, but he had overestimated his strength when pitted against that of a goddess.
Not that he hadn't done so before, and come out the victor then despite all odds, in a different world, and against the iron god Unity.
Memories of that battle, of what he had faced before and overcome, what he had learned and paid in blood and the brightness of his soul, stiffened his spine as he faced Safrin down with deceptive outward calm, even as Isuma peeped soft warning at him to back off, sensing her companion's stubbornness rising to the occasion and knowing it wouldn't end well for him.
"And yet the same could be said of you," he said, his voice calculatedly cool in contrast to the rising heat within him. "When the barrier was raised and nothing you did could reach Vi or convince him to open the barrier from the outside, without the assistance of meddling, 'unimportant' mortals. When all you wanted was to help him again. I would think you would understand why I'm worried about Ludo and want to help it, if I can, even if there's currently a different sort of barrier between us now."
That Ludo was being kept away? That was easier to believe than the spirit guide abandoning the bard, capricious though Ludo could be. He would not presume to call them friends, but he would not let even Safrin shake his loyalty to the masked god who had given him a purpose and a chance to redeem himself in his own eyes.
He had thought himself better prepared to face her today, willing to brave her sharpened silver tongue to find word of Ludo, but he had overestimated his strength when pitted against that of a goddess.
Not that he hadn't done so before, and come out the victor then despite all odds, in a different world, and against the iron god Unity.
Memories of that battle, of what he had faced before and overcome, what he had learned and paid in blood and the brightness of his soul, stiffened his spine as he faced Safrin down with deceptive outward calm, even as Isuma peeped soft warning at him to back off, sensing her companion's stubbornness rising to the occasion and knowing it wouldn't end well for him.
"And yet the same could be said of you," he said, his voice calculatedly cool in contrast to the rising heat within him. "When the barrier was raised and nothing you did could reach Vi or convince him to open the barrier from the outside, without the assistance of meddling, 'unimportant' mortals. When all you wanted was to help him again. I would think you would understand why I'm worried about Ludo and want to help it, if I can, even if there's currently a different sort of barrier between us now."
That Ludo was being kept away? That was easier to believe than the spirit guide abandoning the bard, capricious though Ludo could be. He would not presume to call them friends, but he would not let even Safrin shake his loyalty to the masked god who had given him a purpose and a chance to redeem himself in his own eyes.
