Devaguea paused, before sighing and rubbing his snout against one of his forepaws. After a moment, he nodded, before turning to watch the scenery again, clearly thinking hard about something. Then he slowly spoke, clearly having to force himself to continue. "Did you know that no one knows anything about my time as a slave? All my advisors and companions know was that I was used as a gladiator and a... research aide is the term I will use. That I had one person that really treated me like a being, an intelligent being, rather than an animal or a monster. That I freed myself by sinking my fangs into my owners throat."<br/><br/>He paused again, before very deliberately shifting a bit, not to get comfortable, but to distance himself from his memories even as he spoke. "I might have mentioned that I spent time being charmed as a slave to make me compliant. What no one knows is that he would cast charm monster on me every week, first day of the week, until about three months before I freed myself. He was old for even an elf, and I think he started to forget he needed to force me to be docile. I rarely resisted him directly, I tried often as a hatchling and it never worked, so I started being subtle about it. He never noticed until he turned his back on me after opening the door and telling me to stay still."<br/><br/>The dragon emperor shuddered, before pulling in on himself. "But the point I wanted to make was that as a gladiator slave, charmed by him, I committed ATROCITIES against my opponents. I was a caster even then, but I fought because it was the only control I could exert on my life, and I hated the people I fought. Many of my opponents I took my time on, because HE asked for it. He wanted me to have a reputation, especially after his first experiments on me gave me my color shifting scales and my crystal horn."<br/><br/>The dragon's eyes turned, slightly hollow, haunted, and met hers. "I didn't just try to forgive your sins for you, I will admit. I thought that, if that works for you, maybe it would work for me. That the peasants I tortured might stop haunting me dreams. That the children I murdered in the ring in front of their parents would let me sleep. That their dead eyes would just go away, and let me rest, rather than hiding from sleep with my ring."<br/><br/>Devaguea shook himself slightly, before leaning forward and resting his forehead against the nymph's. "So, since we are both broken, how about we be broken together? I won't let you lose yourself in your guilt if you don't let me do the same?"