With power comes responsibility. The longer you have it, the less time you spend thinking about anything else but the lives you have to take care of. The duties. At some point a man may even forget about the sacrifices he made.But for one. For years I had its weight upon my shoulders. No matter what I did, I could never forget what my being here cost me. My skin was unscorched, yet I felt the heat of the torch on my hand. Nothing could make me forget. More importantly: no other living creature could make me forget. Only my children sometimes managed to distract, which is hardly the same.

Then there she is. Where I denied myself any admitted feeling, circling and dancing around the truth just as she did. Eventually stumbling over my own feet when despair over my duties had the better of me. To find that I am neither deserted nor neglected nor denied. Desired instead. Wanted. Accepted with everything that she is.

Should the gods will it they will grant her my child within the month she agreed to obstain from her duties. One month for me to neglect my own.

For the first time in years it will be my time. And I will grant it to her.