Two Rivers Isle Lifts you up like a star I will follow

Ulrich was embarrassed but pleased as Adylaide told him that she thought he would make a great father. Fatherhood was something he had never thought about before very recently.

And then... and then he got angry and bothered for just a moment.

"And there are many that will protect them, but none more so than you," she said. "I'm not worried."

And for just a few seconds, for perhaps the first time in his life, he thought, Why do I always have to protect everyone? How am I meant to have any kind of life now that I'm far away from that horrid king if all I ever do is patrol borders and protect the weak? Why me? Annoyance flashed clearly across his face, his snout wrinkling, eyes narrowing.

But what kinds of thoughts were these? Here he was, happily married to a woman he had secretly loved all his life and now he was complaining? Forget about protecting his children--what about simply raising them? That would be enough challenge as it was, and perhaps he was not up to it.

He glanced up at Adylaide, feeling embarrassed by his sudden childishness. I--forgive me. I must... I need to clear my head. He turned away from her, thinking of going for a run, but turned to glance over his shoulder. It is not you. You've done nothing. It's... just me. He began to trot away, and would leave if she did not stop him.