Tadow
07-06-2018, 10:12 PM
Perhaps, he thought as he noted the unease in her voice, he should have lied to spare them this conversation. Malleus rejected that thought immediately. No, it was the truth. A harsh one, sure, but the truth. His father had killed his mother to ensure their children weren't coddled and weakened by her attention. Because she had chosen to live among them, Serene deserved to know the truth. "I think," he said slowly, carefully, "You are attributing malice were there was none." Malleus paused to consider his next words. It was a difficult subject; one he wanted to answer truthfully. He didn't want to spare her the harshness of reality, but he did want to soothe her fears. It was hard to find a good balance. He stopped walking and turned to look at Serene. "Let me ask you this: if you became a mother here, would you want the best for your children? Would you want them to grow up strong and skilled? Would you do everything in your power to ensure that?" Malleus searched her gaze but didn't wait for an answer before continuing, "If the answer is yes then you have nothing to fear. Our goal is the same." "The Fallen God demands perfection from us. To that end sacrifices sometimes must be made. I've seen cousins, aunts and uncles culled from our ranks so don't think it's only outsiders who sometimes don't make the cut." As a child the culling had been one of his biggest fears. He'd seen whole litters culled. Young, old, it didn't matter. If you lost your mind, broke too many rules, couldn't pull your weight or any number of other sins, you were obligated to give up your place to someone more deserving. He sighed under the weight of the explanation. It was a heavy subject, that was for sure. "I don't want you to think," he said softly, "That there is some hard line that must be met. We have all kinds of wolves in our ranks. Those that are blind, those that break rules." He thought of his cousin Seth. "Hell," he said wryly, "We even have a dwarf." |