Narsi's lower lip pressed upward with some bottled anger. "Yeah, momma told me," she said. "He could'a..." She sniffed and breathed out sharply, before lifting her head upwards. She bit her lower lip for a moment before resuming. "He didn't want anything to do with us. That's what momma said. Momma said he was dopey, and that was the reason, but I know even a stupid asshole like him can get his friends to write a letter for him. Maybe send a little gold or meat so momma didn't have to go hungry when there wasn't work in the city for her and the lycan agents didn't have anything for her to do." Her fists balled up until they creaked. The entire length of her small arms tensed up and shook. "I'm gonna beat the shit out of him. He's gotta know how it felt."

[hr]
Fendros blinked his eyes down.

He took a few seconds to break his silence again.

"You know," he said. "I...did spend some time last night-" likely the whole night awake by the way he looked "-trying to find some way to..." He closed his eyes and raised an open hand. "Don't mistake this for forcing anything on you. I just got thinking on how to work this all out. Something which doesn't drive a wedge between us and the family but won't...well, have them crawling all over you saving your soul or...or thinking we're running shops and being in militias and so on and so on. It's not too late to catch up with them again, if you feel up to it."