Ras laughed softly and shook his head as he dug around in his desk for a moment. He pulled out a heavy, wooden case and from that, a cigar which he lit with a flick. "You don't get to live a life I have and then have the benefit of believing people won't just up and leave you one day. And yes, yes, I know all about your life and what you've been through. But I also know there's one thing you've never felt and... as much as I may hate you, I wouldn't wish it even on you." He turned around and stared at her. "Are you familiar with having something you love more than life itself, something so... special you would change your very existence just to see it be happy? And I'm not talking about Amere." He took a puff of his cigar and leaned back in his chair. "I did everything I could for this person. They were my heart and my soul. And we made plans to have a family, things were looking pretty damn good. We- This is why I drink, a lot, every once in a while memories and shit like this boil to the surface and I need to hide them again. It was our wedding day and turned me down. She told me she didn't feel the same flame for me anymore, that she only agreed to the marriage for my sake. And no, I didn't kill her. Not then, anyways... but I'm rambling, you don't have the attention span for a full story. Most children these days don't. What I'm saying is, I'm very familiar with loss. And I don't mean someone died and was taken from you. I mean, being told that you're just not good enough to keep their attention anymore. I have been abandoned, like a toy as you put it. That was an entire life ago. I died and was reborn by The'kal, I still can't shake those feelings. It doesn't matter how unreasonable it is, I look at everyone in my family, all of my friends, and I can't shake the feeling that one day they'll all abandon me." He snorted and shook his head. "And you might get some useful information from her since you now know I didn't do it."<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>