Jigano nodded, remembering when Rex had told him about Lucas's lack of control at the Spire last Fiat Lux. That wasn't new to him, though what followed certainly was.
Oh.
Well now.
A brow silently arched, and Rexanna indulged his curiosity with a synopsis that made him even more frustrated about the blight, for this sounded like the sort of hot gossip he would have delighted in having the details on while it was happening, rather than slowly turning into a black-blooded rage monster. "But was the sleeping together mutual?" he couldn't help but ask, fascinated. "Did he have reason to think you might choose him over Bastien?" It was the sort of high drama that he wondered if Lucas would have appreciated. Bastien certainly would have - if Rex had been leaving Lucas at the altar for him, rather than the other way around.
He probably would have appreciated it far less, otherwise.
The thought of Rexanna branding someone as she had been branded once earned another raised brow, this one more cautious. It was a reminder of the fugitive she had been before coming to Caido, and the lessons of mercilessness, even cruelty, learned at the bird-prince's hand. They'd already had one 'merciless' Queen of the Hollowed Grounds, and it gave him pause to consider another so soon.
He didn't like to think of his friend being cruel, but then, he didn't like to think of Sam being a killer, either. Caido was full of unpleasant truths, so he stayed silent to give himself time to think over what she'd said, when the newness of it wasn't so surprising. He offered a bit of his own history instead, the barest bones of a tale stretching back a thousand years, and ending little more than six years prior. "You can't make all of the people happy all of the time," he agreed wryly, nodding along with her line of reasoning. "And hopefully the blame gets spread a little thinner when things go wrong if there are more heads to bear it."
For that's what they'd be, he knew. Advisors, yes, but also scapegoats.
Because Caido never stayed peaceful for long.
But for the moment it was, and he took hold of it with both hands, turning the conversation to the mother Rexanna had never known, but had grown to admire. "If he was a general he was likely stern and commanding, but if he caught your mother's eye he must have also been kind and smart," he mused. "More than just a weapon or a butcher - a role it sounds as though the king was better suited to." He grimaced faintly, then sighed. "Still, I'm sorry you didn't get to learn more of him. It can be difficult, not knowing your roots, or only knowing them from a distance." He'd had his parents, at least, but they had left their homeland and families behind to travel to Numeria before his birth. He didn't know if he had aunts or uncles or cousins somewhere; whether he had grandparents that were still alive, or anything else of that part of his heritage. He had learned the language of their people, and some of the traditions that his mother had passed down to him when he was still small, but the rest he had to learn from books or other travelers.
Oh.
Well now.
A brow silently arched, and Rexanna indulged his curiosity with a synopsis that made him even more frustrated about the blight, for this sounded like the sort of hot gossip he would have delighted in having the details on while it was happening, rather than slowly turning into a black-blooded rage monster. "But was the sleeping together mutual?" he couldn't help but ask, fascinated. "Did he have reason to think you might choose him over Bastien?" It was the sort of high drama that he wondered if Lucas would have appreciated. Bastien certainly would have - if Rex had been leaving Lucas at the altar for him, rather than the other way around.
He probably would have appreciated it far less, otherwise.
The thought of Rexanna branding someone as she had been branded once earned another raised brow, this one more cautious. It was a reminder of the fugitive she had been before coming to Caido, and the lessons of mercilessness, even cruelty, learned at the bird-prince's hand. They'd already had one 'merciless' Queen of the Hollowed Grounds, and it gave him pause to consider another so soon.
He didn't like to think of his friend being cruel, but then, he didn't like to think of Sam being a killer, either. Caido was full of unpleasant truths, so he stayed silent to give himself time to think over what she'd said, when the newness of it wasn't so surprising. He offered a bit of his own history instead, the barest bones of a tale stretching back a thousand years, and ending little more than six years prior. "You can't make all of the people happy all of the time," he agreed wryly, nodding along with her line of reasoning. "And hopefully the blame gets spread a little thinner when things go wrong if there are more heads to bear it."
For that's what they'd be, he knew. Advisors, yes, but also scapegoats.
Because Caido never stayed peaceful for long.
But for the moment it was, and he took hold of it with both hands, turning the conversation to the mother Rexanna had never known, but had grown to admire. "If he was a general he was likely stern and commanding, but if he caught your mother's eye he must have also been kind and smart," he mused. "More than just a weapon or a butcher - a role it sounds as though the king was better suited to." He grimaced faintly, then sighed. "Still, I'm sorry you didn't get to learn more of him. It can be difficult, not knowing your roots, or only knowing them from a distance." He'd had his parents, at least, but they had left their homeland and families behind to travel to Numeria before his birth. He didn't know if he had aunts or uncles or cousins somewhere; whether he had grandparents that were still alive, or anything else of that part of his heritage. He had learned the language of their people, and some of the traditions that his mother had passed down to him when he was still small, but the rest he had to learn from books or other travelers.
