He doesn't look surprised by her reaction, and he also doesn't look shaken by it. It is what it is.
"I didn't know a damn thing," he confirms, staring at the ground. "And I hated that I didn't. It was a magic outside of our control, and most fae aren't accustomed to being controlled like that. I was trying to do what I could to fix things for us, but obviously little attention was paid to the effect we had on the mortals around us. The world had been set up to be out colony, what difference did it make?"
He's asking it rhetorically, not because he can't see how it would matter from her perspective.
"After that, I was just glad to be able to return home... though it wasn't long until the Summer Queen asked me to aid the Rose Queen again, specifically in pursuit of the Blue Rose. The Rose Queen has always had a few screws loose, but losing her faeblood completely shattered whatever stability she had built up over the years. Her son and the Rose are all she cares about, now."
"And that's where... all of this happened. I saw you again, and I thought..." He looks off to the side, hesitating. "Well, it doesn't matter what I think of you, really. It doesn't matter what you think of me, either. I have no illusions of ever attaining your understanding or your forgiveness."
no subject
"I didn't know a damn thing," he confirms, staring at the ground. "And I hated that I didn't. It was a magic outside of our control, and most fae aren't accustomed to being controlled like that. I was trying to do what I could to fix things for us, but obviously little attention was paid to the effect we had on the mortals around us. The world had been set up to be out colony, what difference did it make?"
He's asking it rhetorically, not because he can't see how it would matter from her perspective.
"After that, I was just glad to be able to return home... though it wasn't long until the Summer Queen asked me to aid the Rose Queen again, specifically in pursuit of the Blue Rose. The Rose Queen has always had a few screws loose, but losing her faeblood completely shattered whatever stability she had built up over the years. Her son and the Rose are all she cares about, now."
"And that's where... all of this happened. I saw you again, and I thought..." He looks off to the side, hesitating. "Well, it doesn't matter what I think of you, really. It doesn't matter what you think of me, either. I have no illusions of ever attaining your understanding or your forgiveness."