She felt her eyes burning as Elayne delivered those lines to her heart. A thousand promises that burned so bright in her belly her heart had become a bonfire kindled with the embers of acceptance and care for the first time since she had had that black spot of flesh show up on her breast. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she leant her entire weight against Elayne and buried her face in the other girl's shoulder. All she could do to respond was nod her head against Elayne, whimpering as her face leaked the words she couldn't find, Her relief a vice around her neck as she struggled to speak through the pain of every year she spent alone surrounded by those who never knew what she was going through. She had caged all these feelings below her slender ribs, silenced them, but now it was they who kept her from speaking. She had someone now who would wrap their arms around her, who would bandage her wounds and help her smile through her woes. She no longer had to be the glue that kept the cardboard fort that was her Brother from caving in on itself, crushing her in the process. She was free, and the woman standing infront of her was the one who cut the bindings.

"I'll always be here for you too Laney...every crease and cut on that muscular form is just one more reason to be thankful that you're still here for me. You must keep nothing from me, for it is the job of a maiden to bear the burdens a knight cannot handle on their own." She said through sobs, voice shaking violently, as though it were the last leaf on an autumn tree, desperately clinging to the branches.