Part 308: Virion B

...You.

Mmm? My, my. I hadn't thought to see YOU start a conversation with ME. Perhaps this time we'll have a hailstorm.

You said you were no warrior. But in the last battle,you matched me trophy for trophy. You speak lies.

I said only that words were my forte, sweet lady. I never said I couldn't fight. Though I would never claim to be any sort of true warrior. Not after failing to protect the ones I cared for.

Why did you run, man-spawn? Why did you abandon your warren? You had a duty to your fellows.

I planned to offer myself up in exchange for the safety of my people. ...My men balked. They chose to fight and die rather than hand me over. Not only did I fail to ransom their safety, I was also the reason they kept on fighting.

So you showed your belly and ran to remove any reason for resistance?

That was my thinking, yes. I don't expect my people share that view. To them, I am as you say-a craven. All the sweet words in all the worlds can offer no defense to that claim.

...I withdraw my words from earlier. You are no craven. You know how it feels to lose kin and kind. In that, we are the same.

We are most certainly not!

I do not understand.

My people yet live and wait for me. It is my duty-and my dream-to save them. But you had even that stolen from you. I would not think to claim our losses as equal.

Hmph. Is that pity, man-spawn?

Mere pity would be an insult to a wound so deep as yours, milady. I can but pray that your heart does not succumb to the scars that cover it.

Your prayers mean nothing, but I accept your words.