Redtail Rise espressivo

This was true. But Ashlar did not understand what the many had to do with what Prophet still had. He had known multiple lovers as well, and he was familiar with the different ways he had loved them, complex and yet all the same. He loved Avicus as well - perhaps more, he told himself, if only because she was first.

I can't. He replied, gently affirming it with a slight emphasis. She can choose any. But you stand with her. I can't hold that place. He looked down, not in shame, but instead because he was trying to find the words to say it in a way that he could see.

I don't want to. I don't want to have to fight for things when I can give instead. I just want to be Hæland. And Hæland was not that place. Avicus had made it clear, from its conception, that the Rise prized other things. Things that Prophet wore well and that Ashlar wished never to touch.

It isn't for me to ask. This was the biggest difference, and perhaps the reason why he knew it to be true. He would never be the one to take that step, because Prophet was right - Avicus could have anything from them. If she wanted this, she would have asked, and he was neither surprised nor slighted that she did not. He was only upset that she resented him now.

Prophet seemed willing to ask. And she had elevated him accordingly. Perhaps it was not official, but Ashlar couldn't imagine her turning Prophet down. There was nothing in the man to dislike.