Altar of Twilight You believe me like a god

Aureli mustered a smile for her, thin though it was. Something about her grated at him, but he saw her love for her son, and he respected that. He would pay her the further respect of bringing this to her before mentioning it to her son.

He looked one last time at Delos and smiled wanly. He hoped this was the right path for them both.

"All is well," he replied, hoping to forestall any worries on her part. No one truly likes speaking with healers, he found — not, at least, about their own health, or the health of their loved ones. (He did not consider that it might, perhaps, just be him that wolves found unpleasant.)

"I am in search of an apprentice, and I would like to inquire about your son," he told her, cutting straight to the chase. "The apprenticeship lasts a year, and the commitment to the healer's guild perhaps much longer — but I believe he might have the temperament and intuition to make a fine healer. I would like to ask him to consider this, and consider becoming my apprentice."

He waited, then, for her reaction.