Her mouth lined a plate of his armor as she spoke again. "I only know rejection. Cerva rejected me -us- just as you rejected Zoryn." His jaw clenched, aching from her words as though struck a physical blow.
He didn't like the mention of Zoryn, either. Not him, not Cerva. Cerva had not rejected them she just... She just. No, she would have come home if she could, if something hadn't stopped her. She was dead, she had to be. Nothing else could keep her away, she loved their child. He'd heard it. She'd loved her, even if she couldn't forgive and love him again. She would have still come, she would have still been there for her.
"I've only ever known heartbreak.
I only know how to ruin lives, like you, daddy."
He jerked out of her touch with a sharp hiss as though burned. Always, she aimed straight for his heart. Always. I never rejected you, he said, his voice bitter and cold. He would never earn her love, never know her affection. And it fucking killed him. She was his only child, his child with Cerva. She was so special to him, even as she repeatedly broke him and forced those tears to spill down his face. Consistently shattered his heart, waited for it to almost mend, then did it again.
Why have you come to find me, Atrani. It certainly wasn't to love him, was it. Only beat him while he was down, like the rest of them. He'd given up everything to learn to protect Cerva, and now everything that mattered was gone. He was nothing but a tool now, a weapon for someone else to wield as he saw fit.
He wasn't anything, to anyone.
His love had never been good enough for her. So what then?
I'll take my bow, I won't make a sound
I whisper truce as the ashes hit the ground
