Straightening, I admired my handiwork for a moment. It really was a lovely flower – and, knowing flowers, it might well have withered within a day or so without ever having been properly appreciated. Flowers are not known for their longevity.
I shrugged at the question. “Maybe a few days.” It did not even seem so terribly long since we had left the turbulent kingdoms of Nocturne to their inevitable fate. I could not regret the move; most of those unfortunate souls sold themselves for power and personal gain. Of course, that being said, I also had little room to complain: idealistic though I might be, I was hardly what anyone would call ‘principled’. “Somebody from the foothills offered my brother and me a place there, but I guess I have commitment issues.”
It goes without saying that one becomes a tiny bit gun-shy after being summarily promoted to Master in Chief at the age of two and then leaving only to be recruited into a revolution at the very next stop. I did not relish the thought of pledging my allegiance to a group that, for all I knew, intended to start a bloody and bitter war the next day. Things like that tend to mess with your head.
“Why did you leave, if you don’t mind me asking?”