Her question caught him off guard as he stood. With his own mind running a muck, the thoughts of how everyone treated the family, and how they treated poor Neris... It was like she knew what he was thinking. Ruffling her hair with a hand as he started to stand up, he smiled cautiously and shrugged, "It's not hard to see why Carmine can't get a husband worth his name in piss. I'm surprised Joed hasn't tried to auction her off for a coin or two." Although he was trying to keep the mood light, he could see in her expression that she wasn't asking about Carmine. And she knew he knew that. The way she nibbled at the food, her curiosity of Carmine's words. It didn't take a priest to see she wanted to know why. Why everyone avoided them. Why they hated her, and why even her own family hardly put up with her.<br/><br/>Although the guilt was there, it wasn't something he was unaccustomed to. He'd lied about much more serious matters to men about to face a lashing at the hands of Deacon Connell himself. Any member of the church that had proven their faith gained the angelic wings, symbolic of Elrathia herself. And that faith didn't hold back, the whips used to lash often breaking after the beatings they'd endure. But this wasn't a prisoner of war being interrogated and punished for heresy against the Church. It was Neris, his little sister. The only flesh and blood he could proudly hold claim to.<br/><br/>"Issi..." Words rolled around his head as he tried to think of how to talk with her, but without divulging too much. His smile dropped and he sat back down next to her, wrapping the blanket around her a little tighter. "Not everyone can accept difference. It's what I've went to war for, the reason Joed drinks, the way Carmine treats you. But what's happened doesn't mean anything to about what can happen. You're right, you are blossoming slower than Carmine did. But I haven't a doubt in my mind that when you are a woman yourself, you'll be happier than her. She let's difference drag her down you see, how things have changed, since before even you were born. And since she has no one to blame, she chooses to blame you. That drunkard of a father of ours is even worse. He thinks that spending all his coin on cheap liquor and cheaper women he can feel like he did back then. But it has nothing to do with you, and I swear on my word that's the truth."