"... now that I've been burned… I'm afraid to walk forward again…"
Maela hated saying it, but if there was anywhere that she couldn't hide from the truth, it was here. And while she could maintain the polite, polished facade a noblewoman was expected to project, especially a noblewoman whose daughter had risen to such heights, she could hardly dissemble in front of a High Inquisitor.
And in this case, she didn't want to mask the conflicted contents of her heart, not from one of the few people in the Vale who might be able to help.
"I don't think you're afraid to walk forward again," Ignatious said in a gentle, reassuring tone that felt at odds with his office as an Inquisitor. But then, was he even an Inquisitor anymore? If he was, he certainly wasn't like any Inquisitor that she had ever met.
