[What she says about her brother… he understands, at least a little. Even if he isn't a woman, even if he has never known the loyalty of a sibling who was willing to risk everything for him, he has lived through enough over his many years to have some idea what she means. Although his mother had never known him, although his uncle had held only contempt for him, although his sister chose to save herself by leaving him behind—he did once have a friend who was willing to endure whatever it took to stay by his side. A friend who he had distanced himself from, to protect their reputation and his own.

At the time it had seemed like the right thing to do. Maybe the only thing. But he had wondered, after that friend had greyed and died, if what seemed like protection to him wasn't really abandonment.]

Your brother was a man, wasn't he?

[She spoke of him as someone grown, someone capable of steering his own destiny—to the extent that any mortal could.]

Everything in life comes with some amount of cost. For him to stand by your side even though you couldn't acknowledge him, he must have considered you to be worth it. It's not for you to count his balances for him.