Macklyn couldn't argue with the bird on this matter, he knew that Eric avoided the pain of that occasion more than anything. If Bran thought that there needed to be some kind of anchor to it so that Eric could work through the whole thing, well, he wouldn't say anything more.
That wouldn't stop him from feeling bad, though.
"I have no idea." Macklyn shrugged, smiled a tiny smile. "I've never exactly owned a pet."
He'd had horses, and there had been dogs, sure, but they'd been work animals. There for some purpose or another. Just to have an animal for the sake of having it? It'd never happened.
"You have nothing to be sorry about, my love." Macklyn's smile softened. "You have no reason to apologize. You didn't do anything. I'm the asshole."