"They're allowed to choose whatever they want. I only ever helped my father push my brothers in directions they told me they wanted to go. And now they're settled with wonderful, full lives ahead of them. I can't be faulted for finding a way to make their dreams possible." She knows that's not exactly what he meant, but she still feels the need to explain that much.

The rest is much harder to explain. "I'm not trying to protect them just from something they've seen before or understand. Those demons I spoke of? Those people who used them? They're not from my city, not from the world my family knows. I do have help protecting them from those things, from the friends I spoke of before. But I've built this world they live in, made things so much better, easier for them. They shouldn't have to worry about anything anymore. Why is it so wrong of me to want to keep it that way for them?"

Her hands clench into fists as they rest on her knees. This subject... it's not one she likes talking about and her discomfort is obvious. Family is all this woman has in life. It's all she's ever allowed herself to have. Being told she'd made the wrong choice stings much deeper than Viatorus is likely to realize.