The Cost of Kindness

"Because her husband… erm… did horrible things?" Tiel asked.

He meant to ask whether it was because Nirmala realized her husband was a rapist who had assaulted her friend, but he decided it was far too hurtful to ask outright.

It made him sound stupid, and Bianca reacted with an annoyed sigh, rolling her eyes dramatically as if he were a bumbling fool.

Still, she continued.

"Because of everything else that happened to her. Nirmala was a strong woman who rose to the challenge when the situation called for it, and I noticed she was never happy, to begin with," Bianca recalled, looking down when one of her sons came to stand next to her, holding her legs tightly while looking up curiously.

Her hand lovingly stroked his hair as she held him close.

Tiel felt an ugly pang in his chest, an ache that seemed to fuel tears at the back of his eyes. But he blinked them away, forcing the acidity of his bubbling bitterness to the back of his mind.