His heart slammed once into his ribs, then felt like it stopped. If Charlie ever felt like she wasn't good enough to have him stay, he had earned every last title that any being in creation had ever made of him.

As a father, the story that followed shook him. Of course Cadence was left wondering what was wrong with her. What other conclusion would a child come to, knowing their parents had made such a decision?

It was optimistic to think that they wanted to protect her from her destiny. He knew just how difficult it was to rule a kingdom. He cracked so often and so deeply from all the pressure, and he was already brittle from his memories of the Fall and the treatment he had among his peers.

"Oh, I'm... I'm sorry."

But he offered a little nudge. "Y'know... I've come to pick up this and that from talking with you, and I've gotta say: That aunt of yours did a hell of a job. You're sharp, you're funny, and you're kind. That last bit is something that's so damned rare when it comes to qualities in someone meant to rule anything."

He shrugged. "Man... But that length of time of not showing up, it... it just hurts, no matter how you slice if they wished the best for you or wanted to shrug off the responsibility. And I speak as somebody who is fully aware of the length of time it took for me to reach out and see Charlie again. I, ah... didn't mean to bring up some bad memories for you. I'm sorry you went through all of that."