Jaers shook his head at the girl who was his family, best friend and oft-times kindred spirit. "Shh, my lady. I think you've had a drop too much of that brew they call ale in there." He stepped closer to her and bowed. "Allow me to see you safely back. The city's not so safe as it once was."
Nearly two years had passed. He had spent them in the sun on the decks of ships and sneaking through back alleyways and felt as if the grief weighed on him in an unending burden, but seeing Elia at least alive and unchanged save the sadness in her eyes... And he would have to tell her that he did not know his mother's fate, that there was no answer and he could not take the throne until the past was settled...