He didn’t look at Ryland, though he didn’t need to in order to know the man’s expression; he could hear it in his tone.  Everything in him wanted to resist that tug, resist how nice it felt as his face came down on that warm lap, how comforting it was to have fingers playing in his hair.  The emotional upset had weakened him, however, and he didn’t have the strength to refuse or push himself away.  Even when Ryland started prodding for words, for a kind of<i>obedience</i>, Keth just laid there.<br/><br/>“The<i>world</i>is complicated, Ryland.  You sit here in protected safety, sheltered away from the dangers and the evils of the world.  They have not been able to touch you.  There was not even a hint of real fear in you when I struck out.  I could have killed you in that moment, and you were little more than entertained.  You don’t even worry about my armies spilling over those mountains at my command, do you?  Within the week, they could turn your beautiful kingdom to ruins.  A graveyard.”  Of course, Kethaias knew he couldn’t give that command, not from what he’d seen of these peaceful people.  The closest they had to evil was Ryland’s irritating, spoiled attitude toward everything and that damned Duke’s insubordinate behaviour toward his prince.<br/><br/>“You may take this as an insult, but… you are really just a child, at least in the ways of the heart.  Emotions.  Reality, even.  You wouldn’t understand,” he whispered, his brow pinched in that agony that pressed down on him, no matter how distant he tried to hold it.  “I wouldn’t expect you to.  And even if you would, you wouldn’t care.”  Despite how right he knew he was, the weight of loneliness is perhaps what pushed him to continue.<br/><br/>“I mentioned that I had someone once.  You were uninterested, of course, just as I sure you must be now.  But it was a marriage,” he revealed.  “I was no one back then.  My father was a warrior, a decorated hero, but I had no interest in that line of business.  I had everything I needed already at a young age.  A wife.  A son.  A daughter.  Life was peaceful.  Life was good.  And then it was all taken away from me.”  He paused, breathless and fighting the ache in his heart.  “Our town was attacked one day by some small, rogue army.  I was made to watch as they tortured and murdered my family, and I was utterly useless.  I couldn’t help them.  I couldn’t save them.<br/><br/>“So… yes, everything is complicated.  I started this long journey to find the ones responsible for what had happened, but I have never found them, and every step I continue to take I feel leads me further and further away from what I was and what I loved, but I can’t stop.  And it hurts, and I am lonely and weary.”  Keth turned to look up at the beautiful face above him, wondering what the brat thought of all that.  “And you thought to make me laugh…”