[Ethlyn gives Astralin a warm smile, grateful for his understanding. It seems there are few other parents here, which has always seemed unusual to her... most everyone is around the age of Sigurd and his friends, and almost all of them had one or even a second on the way when she and her husband left the main force of her brother's army.]

It's been keeping me up at nights since I've arrived here. I left my daughter in a terrible situation of my own making and my son was in the care of our family knight. But now I know that they did live to an age where they can defend themselves, I can perhaps rest a little easier.

[What she regrets is not having more time to be a parent. Leif was still just a baby when she and Quan made their terrible ride into the desert.]

I'm sorry we didn't meet each other in there, but I'm glad that you were able to work through it with others. Whatever power operated that maze had an unpleasant talent for dredging up the worst in our memories.