>>5143035>>5143042>>5143098>>5143247You close the door and, mind racing and heart hammering, you wait. You could blurt out a lie, or snatch up your belongings and hurry out of this place. Perhaps you SHOULD. You have demons to retrieve, after all, and mages and monarchs whose machinations you must match…
<Affection: 100%>
But… Damn all the Gods of Light, damn the fates, damn Death Himself… This is Edwin of Engel. You love this silly ape, and to do that would surely, SURELY drive a wedge irreparable between the two of you. So you force your foot not to tap, you take a deep breath, and you listen.
Edwin, for his part, is obviously troubled as well—unsure how to start. He opens his mouth, closes it, looks away, paces a few steps, sights the staff and the bag in the corner, and turns back to you again.
“You know, we looked everywhere for you,” he begins. “Father an I, I mean. For a while, I really thought you were hurt or… Or worse.”
Edwin takes a ragged breath.
“We couldn’t find you, and the Tower Guardians were too busy to go looking for you… But I thought, this is Izzy! You’re capable, so strong, so clever… You’ll be fine.”
You can’t help a small smile at that… Even as you can in his expression that this hardly the end of it.
“But, of course, you’re also the Izzy who goes missing and sometimes gets mauled by wererats, aren’t you?” Edwin sighs. “So I couldn’t sleep. I was up, all night. Waiting. And as I waited… Well, I got to thinking. I started thinking about the things you said to me… Including the very last thing you said to me—what I genuinely thought might be the last thing you EVER said to me!”
‘Oh,’ Irinnile murmurs, before you silently shush her.
Edwin’s sad, pained expression turns to something like anger—almost, ALMOST fury, so uncharacteristic of calm of understanding Edwin—as he says: “You must think I’m an idiot.”
“…” you remain quiet, but shake you head almost imperceptibly.
