‘They are entirely different things,’ he eventually said – speaking even more slowly now, no unhurried confidence but careful contemplation of every syllable that left his lips. ‘The past few centuries as opposed to whatever pain you could cause me. I spent half a life assuming that what my mother felt for me was love, and the other half believing I must truly be a monster if I wasn’t even worthy of that. So having you here after all of that, just … just feeling …’
