"Okay," Sabine said. It was good to know of all these things that were expected of her in a clearer manner, but regardless, it seemed like all this was getting ahead of herself. She didn't even know if Caleb was interested at all. Even then, she wasn't sure whether the extra information had made her confidence any better or worse. There were just so many things she hadn't thought about.

Sabine walked in ponderous silence alongside Meesei for a while longer. Eventually, she came to the end of her thought process with no immediate further questions. She might have questions later, but for now, she felt comfortable with what she had. She stopped and gave Meesei a tight hug. "Thank you, Meesei," Sabine said. The words didn't quite give the sentiment justice. Sabine didn't know what she would do without her.

[hr]
Both parts of Lorag's answer had Janius looking down in thought, though his practical advice was callous enough that Janius' eye flicked up with an incredulous expression. "Thanks Lorag," Janius said with a little sarcasm. Despite it all, Janius did feel as though Lorag had brought up some good points. However, there wasn't really much else Janius thought he could get from the talk. He stood up. "You've given me some things to think about. I'll let you get back to your armour."

Janius walked out of the forge scratching his head. Lorag's father was certainly different from his own, both with parenting attitudes and the impact he had on his child. He tried to think of how he could earn that kind of respect without being so brutal. Mostly, he didn't want to be hated by his child, like he hated his own father.

To get more advice, Janius decided to seek out Oswall and Fendros. Fendros was more immediately available, but Janius had to wait for a spare moment in Oswall's busy schedule to speak with him. Both conversations together ended up taking up the entire rest of the day, both because it was more a matter of personal experience that drove the conversation and that Janius felt he could explore deeper concepts than he did with Lorag. There were a fortunate amount of differences with Oswall and Fendros' style of fatherhood, but also a few key similarities. All the time, Janius was able to reflect on all he listened to. Slowly, but surely, his perspective changed. Exactly how or to what end was between Janius, Fendros, and Oswall at that point.

The conversation with Oswall in particular went late into the night. This kept Kaleeth waiting for so long that by the time Janius was done, he came back to the pack's chamber when everyone was fast asleep. Janius crept up to where Kaleeth was and lightly placed his hand on her shoulder. "Kaleeth, are you awake? Come with me," Janius whispered as quietly as he dared so that he didn't wake anyone else up.