Noctisardor Bypass anything at all to keep me close to you

Mahler said that she had never been weak, but it was hard to believe that. Laurel had been so close to tearing out his throat and ending it at last. She wasn't sure she could ever forgive herself for that, because now she paid the ultimate price: her children were gone.

He did not want to trade life for life, but what else? What else could they do? Gather their allies, time, time, take more time. Laurel wasn't sure that she could trust Mahler to make the right decisions, here. She knew that he had been off with Wylla, and she knew that he would be protecting her and his future family, too. Too much so, perhaps. Laurel wanted to call him out on all of that, but she could not find the words.

Instead, she just looked at the ground and said, Yes, maybe. And she felt regret that she could not speak her mind, could not tell him all that was wrong and how waiting longer was simply not an option.

She needed him to be there for her, and she wanted to tell him, but she couldn't find the words for that, either.