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~~((Halloween Special - Page 13 of 30))~~
The silence drew out, and Hector struggled to think of what to say. He'd told her what he needed to, but he didn't want to just excuse himself and leave her hanging, either.

What was the right way to handle a conversation like this, he wondered? It wasn't the first one of its kind that he'd had with her, and he had a terrible feeling that it wouldn't be the last.

'...I'm sorry you're going through all this,' was the only thing that came to mind.

It did not elicit a response from her.

He tried again. Maybe something more reassuring would do the trick. 'I promise I'll do everything I can to help you and your family.'

'...I appreciate what you are trying to do, Hector,' she said, 'but let's not kid ourselves. What can you do? You are just as powerless as I am in this situation.'

He blinked, not having expected such biting cynicism from her.

Maybe he should have, though.

He'd been dealing with so many non-servants lately--and politicians, to boot--that he'd kinda forgotten that she wasn't like any of them. His growing "reputation" didn't mean anything here. To Emiliana, he was probably still just some random kid she met in the middle of all that craziness that went down in Sair.

Which was a more accurate assessment than anything else, honestly. Lord or not, "hero" or not, he was out of his depth. He'd been out of his depth for quite a long time.

He felt her let go of her Shard, and that was that.

The next couple days were agonizing as it felt like all he could do--all anyone in Warrenhold could do--was wait for more news to arrive. News of the treasure hunts. News of the Sandlords. News of the other fronts in the war. News of anything.

That was just the prevailing feeling of unease, though. There was no lack of work that needed doing, including but not limited to meditating, training, the Bank, the reconstruction, the land deal, and plenty of meetings, of course.

There was one meeting, however, that took him by surprise, as it arrived in the dead of night.

The Queen of Atreya paid him a visit.