She's got the devil's eyes
Were Heartfire not so wholly aware of the past as she is, she might find it disarming to watch the disconnect between the stories Briella tells (as though they happened only yesterday) and the time that has passed since their occurrence. But she has seen too much - lived too much - to find herself disconcerted by such tales. Though she does not look it, her life had also begun in the Beqanna of old. The one now washed into the seas, almost forgotten but for those who had lived it.
The weighty matter-of-factness with which Briella announces the likelihood of Pell’s death draws Heartfire back a fraction, her gaze shifting to rest thoughtfully on her lovely features. Had Heartfire sufficient time and resources, she could likely trace through history until she found the truth. Still, no matter what that truth was, it was never going to be what offered Briella the solution to her woes. No, her answers lay in moving forward, not backwards. And so her response to that supposition is simply, “You’re likely correct.”
Though her tone is not unkind, she too often lacks the gentleness needed for these situations. Of course, Briella had known her well enough that she likely already knew this. And she doubts the girl had come here seeking that kind of comfort from her.
She slips easily into musings of family, causing a faint kick of her lips as she watches her work her way verbally through her thoughts. She does not try to interrupt, instead listening quietly to her muse. Briella’s supposition that death must fear Heartfire causes a stir of amusement. Perhaps one day she would share the story of her and Dovev’s journey to cheat death, but today was not that day.
Her final request gives her pause however. Truthfully, it is not a question she had ever before considered. Family had always been important to her, no matter what outward appearances might suggest. Indeed, she had done very questionable things for her family. Things the world would likely never learn of, if she had her way. Still, she had never paused to try to define it.
After a rather lengthy silence, she sighs, her response, though slow, carefully considered. “You are family, Briella,” she begins, her blue gaze fixed on her, sharply serious. “Perhaps that doesn’t mean much, coming from me. But…” She pauses, weighing her response before continuing. “For me, that’s everything. It’s… loyalty, I suppose. Protection. Acceptance.” She trails off, head tilting slightly before reaching to lightly touch her forelock.
“Why do you ask?”
and they'll cut you like a weapon