"So why weren't you?" Dante's voice is soft, the barest hint of accusation underlying his tone though he doesn't leave Wessex's offered comfort. He knows that his anger shouldn't be directed at Wessex. She couldn't have known, but perhaps, if she had been here, then Clem would still be alive. At the very least, maybe he would've been less afraid of dying out there during Long Night if he had known Wessex was nearby. But she wasn't, and Dante can't help the tightness in his jaw as he averts his gaze to the floor.
He didn't understand the politics, the tension between the races. His best friend was Ascended and nothing had changed, yet he was the one to die with his surrogate mother. Neither of them had been anything but kind to him as he adjusted to Caido, thrust into roles of leadership or set on a path life had predetermined without their consent. Dante didn't know who this Safrin was, or what she had against the Ascended. He only knew that his best friend was too young, too innocent to die so soon. Swallowing past the lump in his throat, he pulls away before speaking. "You should've been there. It should've been you, not Clem."
where you are, i will be
