[He feels bad when he sees her, he really does. It's so easy to forget that she's still just a kid, for all her craftiness and intelligence. Maybe, he thinks, it would have been better to let her find out from the obituary after all, or to have had Royce call her after he was already dead.
But there's no going back now. He turns the video on too, keeping it centered on his face so that she can't see the wound or the blood. Fiona can be seen, down on the floor with him and pressed very close, and the edge of Royce's cloak whips into view at one point because he's also hovering nearby. Alfie is pale and ill-looking, and is probably close to going into shock at this point, but he still manages to copy Kesara's gesture.]
It's an awful world we've found ourselves in, bubbeleh. But you'll be all right.
[He doesn't mean it like a platitude, and he doesn't say it like one. He has every faith in Kesara's ability to survive even the most difficult things.]
Video;
But there's no going back now. He turns the video on too, keeping it centered on his face so that she can't see the wound or the blood. Fiona can be seen, down on the floor with him and pressed very close, and the edge of Royce's cloak whips into view at one point because he's also hovering nearby. Alfie is pale and ill-looking, and is probably close to going into shock at this point, but he still manages to copy Kesara's gesture.]
It's an awful world we've found ourselves in, bubbeleh. But you'll be all right.
[He doesn't mean it like a platitude, and he doesn't say it like one. He has every faith in Kesara's ability to survive even the most difficult things.]