"When I was crying in the carriage, on the edge of the mountain... you swore a blood oath. You said you would never leave me behind in the dark. You said we were a team."
"I... I was terrified, Seraphina," Kaelus choked out, finally lifting his head. His violet eyes were shining with unshed, desperate tears. "The anomaly was ancient. It was a apocalypse itself. If I had brought you, and the beast had broken my guard... if a single stray spell had struck you... I would not have survived it. I chose your safety over my honor. I would make the same choice a thousand times to keep you breathing if that's what it takes. It's fine even if you don't forgive me."
It was a beautiful, tragic, fiercely loving defense. It was the logic of a father who would gladly burn the world to keep his child warm.
But Seraphina was having none of it.
