“Yes, well.” The ice was crystalizing in his voice as he spoke. “There are unfortunate dredges we must all accept in some circumstances. This is not ideal, but it is how the fates have aligned.” He was not pleased with those his daughter would be introduced to; however, it was all better than existing with no magic around her. It was a buffer between her and the even less desirable mundane world. Sad that he must now look for the lesser of the evils and simply accept such a fate. Alas, that was something he had learned to compromise with to keep his child by him. He learned the difficult way how such a loss could damage a life. While no love was lost in Thistle’s departure, it had been rather ugly to manage in the fallout. He would like to avoid such a situation again if he could. Especially in the case of Chrysanthemum.
His jaw flexed again, and nose flared. The darkness pf Errol’s eyes flared with a spark of anger boiling under the surface. He was not in the mood to deal with this. The conversation had already grown old minutes ago when it began. And it felt as though the child was being difficult for the sake of it. He could grasp, of course, the difficulty Thistle must have in doing something for him. He could accept that the child held the grudge for the unfortunate circumstances that came from the fight, even if it was of his own doing. This was not about them. He took a slow inhale to settle the rippling anger beneath his skin and swallowed. His face returned to the stoic expression as before.
“Thistle, would you lay upon your sister a hatred misplaced simply out of spite? She is innocent of this…” Childishness… “between us. She is your family, and in leaving the community, she will be alone. Is it such an overwhelming task to be a guide to your sister in a world you know so well?” his words were almost delivered in a staccato beat as Errol spoke. Each syllable punctuated with the annoyance he was trying to hide. “I can accept your lack of duty to myself, but could you not extend that to her instead.”