Jigano opened his mouth to protest, but Remi's name silenced him, and he closed his jaw to give Sam a chance to continue. What had passed between the two men was such a tangle of love and loss, betrayal and pain, friendship and woe that even the nosy bard knew he had no place to say anything of it. And if Remi felt that way about Sam, it was his right. He bowed his white-crowned head in acceptance even as Sam accepted the alchemist's condemnation, but he drew breath again to intercede--
And the words that came next struck painfully home, stealing his breath and stilling his tongue as he was forced to swallow his initial response. His words, given to Amalia, to Maea, to others now gone. He grew silent for a moment, and the breath he finally drew might have shaken, just a little. "In this, you are not asking," he said quietly at last. "I understand that it's the sort of thing you can't ask of anyone else. But I - and your other friends - are free to offer. To offer to help you of my own free will, and knowing the dangers. And others may choose to do so as well." Whether Sam would accept that help though, now or in the future, was up to the bookmaker.
Choices were all he had to offer Sam now, decisions that he had once laid at the Voice's feet and avoided thinking about, content to let others direct his life. Remi and the Voice, his two compasses in the night, now both cast aside while he tried to chart his own course. The choice of where his soul would go, in the end, was perhaps the most powerful and intimate choice of all...
And one that had been denied him, once again, by the goddess who held his life - and more - hostage. "If you change your mind, I'll take you to Ludo," the bard offered quietly. "If Safrin won't help you. It might not be able to do more than that... but perhaps it would be willing to let us talk to Mort directly. Mort is said to love all life, so he may be more sympathetic and willing to help. But that will always be up to you. Still, I wonder... if we could search for where your soul is together?" It was a mused thought, sparks ticking over in his mind as he considered options. "I might be able to keep it in the lantern, at least for a time, if you wanted the freedom to chose a future other than the Voice someday." Hopefully a someday far down the line.
Or perhaps within a year, if it all went to hell.
And the words that came next struck painfully home, stealing his breath and stilling his tongue as he was forced to swallow his initial response. His words, given to Amalia, to Maea, to others now gone. He grew silent for a moment, and the breath he finally drew might have shaken, just a little. "In this, you are not asking," he said quietly at last. "I understand that it's the sort of thing you can't ask of anyone else. But I - and your other friends - are free to offer. To offer to help you of my own free will, and knowing the dangers. And others may choose to do so as well." Whether Sam would accept that help though, now or in the future, was up to the bookmaker.
Choices were all he had to offer Sam now, decisions that he had once laid at the Voice's feet and avoided thinking about, content to let others direct his life. Remi and the Voice, his two compasses in the night, now both cast aside while he tried to chart his own course. The choice of where his soul would go, in the end, was perhaps the most powerful and intimate choice of all...
And one that had been denied him, once again, by the goddess who held his life - and more - hostage. "If you change your mind, I'll take you to Ludo," the bard offered quietly. "If Safrin won't help you. It might not be able to do more than that... but perhaps it would be willing to let us talk to Mort directly. Mort is said to love all life, so he may be more sympathetic and willing to help. But that will always be up to you. Still, I wonder... if we could search for where your soul is together?" It was a mused thought, sparks ticking over in his mind as he considered options. "I might be able to keep it in the lantern, at least for a time, if you wanted the freedom to chose a future other than the Voice someday." Hopefully a someday far down the line.
Or perhaps within a year, if it all went to hell.
