The Tangle She says the joys of life are lost among the living

Her words were an answer, even if not the one he wanted. Still - she was wrong. It probably would not change this and he would accept her needs, as much as it hurt. He just needed her to know the truth of why things were the way they were.

He isn't why I stay. I made a promise. My friend leads the Rise, and she needs me. Avicus had stood by him and he was, at least in part, the reason why she had left her home. He had promised to see her through this move and he knew that leaving now would break this. Without him, she had her soldiers, and perhaps that might be enough. He just worried.

And if he was a father? He didn't know. Maybe he would need to ask.

I can go back. He didn't need to stay if she wanted him to leave. He wanted to see her home more than anything, but she likely would not wish to share it with someone who could not put her first. The truth was, he couldn't. Avicus was first because his promise, to her, had come before any of it. The root of his loyalty lived there.