"Conflict. Duty."
"You need to be more specific than that."
"Yes, of course. You deserve more than words like conflict and duty," Aedric said quietly. He stepped closer to the river, but did not touch her. "So here it is, plain."
Rell did not look away.
"I once walked away from my mate," he continued. "From Araya. I told myself I had reasons. Now that I think about it, I had no reason." His jaw tightened. "She vanished, and I lived with that choice every day since."
She nodded once, as if she had expected that answer.
"If she is alive somewhere out there," Aedric continued, "then I cannot abandon her again. I won't. Not for myself. Not for another love."
Rell swallowed. "And if she isn't?" she asked.
"I will like to hope that she is," he said.
The silence stretched between them.
"I owe it to my son," Aedric went on. "To give him his mother. To show him that love does not mean choosing only what feels right, but what is right."
Rell finally looked down, blinking hard.
