I only realized how thoughtless it was after I saw both of their faces stiffened.
"I...I'm sorry," I lowered my gaze, feeling extremely awkward. "You don't need to answer it."
"No, you must have been curious," Tiralein replied with a smile, taking my elbow and leading me down, back to the plaza. "I don't know what kind of answer you were hoping for, but Valen," she looked up and stared straight into my eyes, "But we can not build it again; a palace, a city, a royal family," she looked at me apologetically. "The Royal Tree is no more, and even if we want to seize back the land...well, we had never been good at fighting."
"It is not our role to take on arms and hurt others," Amarein said, walking on my other side. "We are the shepherds of nature; our duty is to keep the land that Mother loves from being tainted with corruption. It is not in our nature to be... aggressive."
