Kaelen was the first to move.
He looked directly into Drax's dark, furious eyes, and then at Tanith's tear-streaked cheeks.
"You are right," Kaelen whispered, his voice completely hollowed out by the crushing magnitude of his own shame. "You are all entirely right."
Zarek let out a ragged, agonizing breath, his fiery eyes dropping to the floor.
Syris stood perfectly still, his face buried in his hands, trembling with the weight of a profound, devastating guilt. Torian and Caspian remained silent, their massive frames bowed in absolute repentance.
"We are not abandoning her," Kaelen continued, his voice cracking as he looked past the children to the rigid, emotionless Vessel sitting in the center of the bed. "We will never, ever abandon her. But Tanith is right. We are acting like wounded, petulant beasts. Our grief is volatile. Our anger is blinding us, and our combat auras are terrifying you."
