MALLOS
Apparently, Sperantia has caught a rat.
Shortly after Mallos has finished speaking, she re-opens the connection between their minds and starts telling him all about it. From the speed and tone of her voice it sounds like she’s on a bit of an adrenaline high, and from the images she keeps sending him it’s easy to see why: the rat was almost the same size as her. She’s so busy describing their vicious battle that he can’t get a word in edgeways, and he knows that if he blocks her off without explaining that now’s not the time then he’ll never hear the last of it. As always, Sperantia considers what she has to say more important than anything else, so her thoughts invade the largest possible part of his mind. Noticing that Tristan looks like he’s about to say something but unable to hear anything over the cat-chat, Mallos thrusts Sperantia to the back of his mind, which enrages her so much that she falls silent for a second. This gives him just enough time to send her a brief memory of the last five minutes or so.
‘Oh,’ she sniffs. ‘Well, why didn’t you just say so?’ Before he can comment on the unfairness of this question, she withdraws and leaves him alone with Tristan. He rolls his eyes inwardly and returns his attention to the prince. A second later, Sperantia reconnects and adds, ‘also, I told you to get him dried off. Go and do it now. Now, Mallos!’
Naturally, Mallos doesn’t consider himself under any obligation to take orders from a domestic house-pet, so he ignores the command with dignity.
“No,” he answers Tristan firmly. “No, it would not have made any difference.” He can’t comment on the relationship between Lilith and her two sons, but a good mother should have no preference and, besides, this is the answer Tristan clearly needs to hear. Following his grandson’s cue, he gazes out across the lake and frowns slightly.
What happens after death is still largely a mystery, even to those who claim to know. The most anyone knows is that there is a single death world where all deceased souls go, so the comforting phrase ‘you’ll see them again someday’ may be accurate, but Mallos doubts it. If there is a single realm where all the dead go, from every world and every time, it’s likely to be so large that no one would have a hope of finding anyone they know. There’s also the question of whether he’ll ever see it for himself. Aura had always said that all things die eventually, no matter how immortal they may appear, but eventually one comes to an age where one begins to believe in death being unreachable. At least for mortals, life comes with one guarantee: that they will one day die.
“No, it’s not stupid.” He maintains his gaze directly ahead, remembering that boys often find it difficult to discuss serious or sensitive things while maintaining eye contact. Women prefer eye contact, but for men it’s easier to be performing another task while having the discussion (so much for ‘men can’t multitask’). “You were not the first heir and you have not had the same training Gawain had, so you have to do that catching up now. It seems like you’re worse now because you don’t have the same training he had, but that won’t last if you try your hardest.”
A cool wind picks up, forcing him to suppress a shiver while he contemplates what to say next. It would be easy to say ‘nobody is judging you’ or ‘nobody is comparing you to Gawain’, but that would be a lie. That’s most likely what almost everyone is doing, and will be doing for probably the rest of his life. Pointing that out is hardly going to make Tristan feel better, but Mallos is convinced that lying to children is not the way forward. He chooses his words carefully.
“You are very good at what you do, and everyone knows that. People want to help not because you’re not good, but because they want you to be the best you can be.” Tristan is intelligent, but hopefully not perceptive enough in communication yet to notice the evasion tactic. “You have all the natural talent you need, and the best possible teacher in your father. If you learn everything he has to teach you, you will not falter. And,” he adds the emphasis, “you have other people in your life who love you too.”
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