Recap: Ilium was apologetic and now he said to his parents, "I am sorry, I got so angry earlier, I had no idea what you had to go through all by yourselves and I am certainly thankful for the life you have provided for me". When neither of his parents responded, Ilium asked, "now, how do we reconnect with our families?"
"We can't", his mother replied, "that was the point of our punishment; we were to never have contact of any sort with our families ever again. It was completely forbidden and punishable by all of our deaths". "That's so cruel", Ilium said making Aurora who had been silent since she was shaken awake by Acacius and led down the stairs say, "wasn't it cruel when innocent people were murdered in their homes and beds?". Ilium had no answer to that but he didn't have to reply for at the moment that followed, his mother clarified her last statement, "all of our deaths, including yours, Ilium".
