Nearly six centuries. Gods, to imagine life for such a long stretch of time... to watch the world shift, lives flirt past in the blink of an eye. She looks ahead, silent, troubled, mind racing over the idea of it. He's spoken of his wife--how long has it been since he's lost her?

"I've noticed no such coldness, lord Tepes." When she looks back to him, it's not with pity, but with a stubbornness which dares him to argue. "You were the second person I met in this world and offered me a kind ear and a bright mind. You continue to offer me both."

The hand curled on his arm tightens just a bit in response to his touch. Six centuries... such loneliness, and he speaks of the prospect of them all--she and those who walk this land now--dying and he surviving.

"You do carry a terrible burden." There was no denying that. The sacrifices he made to protect his people were far greater than she'd anticipated. And that, unsurprisingly, is what makes her respect him all the more. "If you would allow it--it would please me to help you in rejoining the world."