Noctisardor Bypass And emptiness is all you know.

ciri seemed somehow deferential, and mahler found that his sudden position starkly above her as patriarch and leader of rivenwood was not a dynamic he enjoyed. "that is not necessary. i vill replace it today," mahler assured, voice warm and muffled around the wet schluck of leaves in his mouth.
he did not intend for her to feel beholden to them; she was of his blood and he of theirs, and despite all that had gone on, mahler wanted theirs to be a new start.
he set them down a small ways from her paw. "you may think othervise, vonce you have tasted this." the doktor smiled gently, turned away with a sigh. he wanted to speak to her of rivenwood and those in it, but was unsure if ciri was ready to hear it all. 
and so he would allow his daughter to set the pace of their discourse.