I don't know where to go from here

He waited till they were all gathered around, though he had a hard time meeting the gazes of his children. Even though he knew Aranea was at fault for all of this, he couldn't keep himself from feeling as if he had failed them. He had promised to keep them happy and healthy, to care for them as well as he possibly could, and give them the family he sometimes felt he lacked. He hadn't been able to give them the family he desired for them, they very clearly didn't have the happiness he craved for them, and in the case of Azzurra he hadn't been able to keep her healthy. He sighed and looked at the ground, struggling to put together the words that he had spent so long trying to piece together on his way here. There was no easy way to tell them this truth, though part of him believed that they already knew. He had tried and partially failed to keep hope in Aranea alive in them and now it would all be for naught.

"Aranea isn't coming," he finally told them after a long moment, his voice quiet and pained. "She... She did something that she shouldn't have and put someone else above us. I told her that she's no longer welcome here." How could he possibly explain the level of infidelity and disregard Aranea had committed to these children? They were less than a season from being a year old, but... Even still, they were still incredibly young and this was all far more than he expected them to understand. He sighed again, his ears flicking back against his head. "I... I can't keep any of you from trying to see her again if you want to see her, but she is not welcome in Abaven lands. I'm sorry that I can't fix this for you... I held out hope that she would come around for so long, but... She went too far and I can't allow her to be a part of our family any more. I'm so sorry..."

He glanced up at his children, looking for their reactions, awaiting the backlash that he felt was inevitable. He didn't want to hurt them. He didn't want to cause them any more heartache, but he also had to explain their mother's absence no matter how much it hurt. He glanced up at the den that he had been working on expanding and at the separate rooms that were partially finished. He had focused mainly on finishing the one that Aranea could stay in since he had already finished one for himself and the one that Azzurra had been using through her sickness. "We'll... We'll continue expanding the den anyway. Give each of you your own spaces. Unless you'd rather move out into your own dens next season..." It was easier to think of construction projects than it was his own life.

Walk | "Talk" | think