"Kleb...no, please."
"Elinire hurt when she lost me, when she thought I lost, but she's the strongest woman I've ever known, and she got over it. And I think deep down she more or less guessed Jork's despicable nature. Even so, she preferred him to all the other men who would ever ask her and our child for a chance. And she loved him so much that she agreed to tie her life and that of our son to his, and even to go so far as to give him a child of his own. And it's true that Jork is guilty. He always will be. However, it's just that no one, not even you majesty, has the power to stop someone from loving."
Zion froze for a moment, then nodded.
"I know that, Kleb. I am still very young, despite my now zeogian state. But I know it, I have known it for a long time. It's just that sometimes too, it's just impossible to get someone to realize it."
"Was it someone you loved?"
"Yes. Why?"
