Redtail Rise other loves, other vices

god, she sounded different, too. older, wiser. broken. an all-encompassing sense of dread seized him as he realized that she had left long before grayday had passed. damn it. would he have to break this news? it would reopen the wound all over again, barely healed as it was.

"you are very close," adi croaked, mouth twisting awkwardly. "easy. . ." he ducked his head, gritting his teeth. fuck. fuck. fuck. with the assumption that she would never return came the assumption that she would never have to hear this, or at least hear it from a stranger, as gossip. he didn't feel qualified to tell her this. 

but perhaps it was best if the news came from him.

"easy, your father is gone," he forged on, voice hollow. "he died two moons ago. an illness, i think. it came on rather quickly. it was. . .it was peaceful. in his sleep." he looked up at her, his molten gold eyes suffused with the pain strangling each word. "i'm so sorry."