Silence encompassed the grand hallway at Anthony's words. Klaus stood quietly, his face betraying no emotion, though inwardly he was mildly stunned. For several long seconds, he did not speak. He did not even attempt to. He simply stared forward, his mind grappling with the weight of what he had just heard, struggling to piece together an adequate response.
He did not know what to say.
He knew, deep down, that what Anthony had said about his training methods being wrong was undeniably true. As a warrior, he had failed his daughter, but as a father, all he had ever wanted was to protect her. That desire, fierce and unrelenting, had guided his every decision where he was concerned.
He never wished to see her recklessly charging headfirst into danger. He never wished to see her bleed, to hear her voice rise in a battle cry like some Valkyrie's scream echoing through the battlefield.
