"You will earn yours soon enough."

I shrug the comment off though the seriousness remains like a scent in the air: he knows the time will come now. If they compare his own marks to a new sun then I can only ponder as to whether they are truly ready for a new dawn. He will earn them and I will be the one to award them to him if I must - they will all see soon. They will see that with him, they are better off. Taviora knows this already. I cannot help but crease my lips into the smallest smile, taking a place closer to him as I obseve our surroundings. It is most undesirable to be within a pack at times. They have ears and eyes where ears and eyes should not be... and rules, strict legislation, to guard them. Of course, we are assured in our knowledge of our birth tongue at least. They may repeat the words but they will never taste their meanings.

He speaks then of his mother - his brother - and my eyes slide towards him suspiciously. It is of no surprise, of course. As much as his family prides their blood, they are willing to give it to any and all, bringing life into a world that needs so much fewer. But Solaris? My eyes narrow and I nod, allowing him to continue as I consider this. Why would she desire children from him? Have they grown suspicious, perhaps? Do they believe children will mend the holes in the world or that they can distract another with them? My lip pulls up over my tooth in a crooked, amused smile.

"Family... children... mates... they are not all the same. There are other goals in this world. Those that seek only one thing are fools. What makes a child of yours any different to a child of another?"

I pause, turning completely then to face him, my eyes boring into his own.

"Blood is nothing. It need not spread without true purpose. Tell your mother that - let her think on such things."

Silence bites at us then and I am unsure... did I tell him what he needed to hear? Females, after all, are good for many things, their company enjoyable but... children? Mates? Why? Many aim only for that and stop when it is serves before them. I do not wish to see Solaris stop. As for I... I turn away in thought. Family is so little, after all. Mother has been there, yes, but truly she sees us only as additions to herself, guardians and watchdogs for her own intentions. Brother and sister are nothing but those born of the same womb, the same mother and nothing more. They do not seek me and I seek nothing but Anselm's wretched toy. Father? Perhaps I was born only from my mother's wickedness. Family is but a word constructed of syllables. It is only a concept that exists in the minds of others.

And then I see her. I remember her, this girl of black and white. I remember her well and so I stare into her, observing the age that has built up in her face. It is a strange thing, females like she and Boleyn: I desire to be with them and yet I desire so little more. I wish to teach them of this new world, this budding change that Solaris brings. I wonder if that is close to wanting family.

"Only desire. For what, I do not know."

I answer, then, Solaris though my eyes remain on the girl. It takes me a moment before I glance back to Solaris, sliding my eyes towards her with a curiosity. She had come from Diveen and yet I had never learnt her name.

"Come -" I call back to her, beckoning her forward with a crooked smirk - "do you know this girl, Solaris? She is one of them: so few I truly enjoy and yet, here one is."