Raerdel made a sound of sadness when he pulled away but closed her eyes and listened silently otherwise. “If what I’ve done has cost me you anyhow. If … this stupid thought has taken what I was trying to preserve in the first place, I understand,” he whispered. Leaning his head against the window itself he resisted the urge to punch the wall. “I have so many regrets. Losing you is the largest of them all.” He spoke mostly to himself now. Trying to picture his life after she and the twins were not in it. He saw bleak days of doing his duty and nothing more ahead for him the long years ahead. Raerdel sat up and whispered back through the tears. “You left me. Even though you were here. You left my heart.” Turning, he went over and picked her up by her elbows gently so that she was eye level w
