"Fourteen." No less loving, but there's a strain in it now. At first, his expression remains largely peaceful.
"It wasn't perfect, objectively. Avalir was an adjustment, juggling being knights and parents wasn't always simple, and when Evandrin became First Knight - I was proud of him, but it meant more responsibility. The sort that always weighs heavily on anyone who's right for the job."
Yes, the words are pointed, but he goes on without making a production of the comparison.
"But I never felt truly overwhelmed. Not with him by my side." Bruce knows where this is going; Zerxus doesn't try to draw it out. "We lost him when Elias was seven, a few months after we saw Cathmoira again." It had been such a good year; he and Nydas were able to introduce Elias to friends and family on the ground, Laerryn and Loquatius finally tied the knot. "That was the first real challenge, and I failed spectacularly."
It's tempting to drag his eyes away, back to the comfort o the stars, but he doesn't.
"I sent Elias back to Cathmoira, to live with Nydas's family - his brother was married, with two kids of their own. And I didn't see him again until the day I died."
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"It wasn't perfect, objectively. Avalir was an adjustment, juggling being knights and parents wasn't always simple, and when Evandrin became First Knight - I was proud of him, but it meant more responsibility. The sort that always weighs heavily on anyone who's right for the job."
Yes, the words are pointed, but he goes on without making a production of the comparison.
"But I never felt truly overwhelmed. Not with him by my side." Bruce knows where this is going; Zerxus doesn't try to draw it out. "We lost him when Elias was seven, a few months after we saw Cathmoira again." It had been such a good year; he and Nydas were able to introduce Elias to friends and family on the ground, Laerryn and Loquatius finally tied the knot. "That was the first real challenge, and I failed spectacularly."
It's tempting to drag his eyes away, back to the comfort o the stars, but he doesn't.
"I sent Elias back to Cathmoira, to live with Nydas's family - his brother was married, with two kids of their own. And I didn't see him again until the day I died."