"Liar." She pushed harder against his chest, not enough to break anything but enough to make a point. Dragons weren't excessively strong in their non-scaled form, but a soldier wasn't of much use if they were weak sixty percent of the time - and she had ensured she was not.
Like hell she was falling for that. That was far too specific, "Who told you about my wife, who died protecting humans during their bullshit war?" Except Lalita hadn't wanted to be protecting them, which was why this was still a wound that festered like a bad knee on a stormy day even when she was having what passed for a good day. Because it was her fault. Lalita wanted to hang back, like a proper historian, study what was happening and record dispassionately, not get involved. But Jayati was a protector and a guardian, like her mother before her. She just let herself get caught up guarding the wrong people.
The boy was yelling something, trying to get attention and trying to distract her, "Most of this town has lost family to humans, you think they would blame me for reacting when throw mine in my face? I know a Gargoyle who watched his brother get smashed who would have already stomped your chest in." That may have been exaggerated slightly, but Zander did have quite the temper and she had never seen someone throw his dead family at him.
Then again, he didn't carry the guilt of his family.