He stopped cleaning the ocarina to pause, so close had he come to answering her questions. It wasn't just a case of knowing when you should quit, before you hurt yourself too badly, but also a case of... Onainat had Minaht in common with Koe, but for different reasons. And even if they had both known her mother Koe had known Minaht when she was much younger. When the beauty in her face had not strayed toward madness, and the indomitable spirit of her clan had not been twisted into evil. He knew Minaht when she was not like Rand. That had been a long time ago. And it was a fate, Koe seemed to see, that also befell the Marmar Clan if they lived long enough.
That was it.
He didn't want to see his daughter become a tyrant like her mother, like her great-grandfather, so he resisted the idea. The idea that there was anything about Minaht still worth loving or cherishing. The idea that Onainat could be so enamored with her mother that she would rush off with her at a moment's notice and gallivant around the world with her mother leading the way. Great armies, great battles and great adventures later Onainat had still not rid herself of her mother's thirst for adventure and replaced it with her father's passion for seeing the world. He was old enough, and he'd known her mother well enough, to see the difference. And it was himself that he heard every time Onainat sang, but it was Minaht he saw every time his daughter drew a map.
And he didn't want to encourage her.
Didn't want to see her turn out like her mother.
"You're full of questions tonight, little one," Koe remarked instead of answering. "Having a hard time sleeping?"
Ilyien's snore ripped through the night like a sword, even if it was short-lived for all its power.