"Winn. What happened wasn't your fault." Winter looked up at her, all that did was made his guilt worse. It was his fault, she just didn't know it. She would.
He opened his mouth to speak but she spoke first. "I'm..." She paused, searching for the right words. Winter steeled himself for what was to come next. " "Better. Now that I'm out. Now that they.. well technically they can't hurt me now. Not like they had, but.. All those people.. my people. I just.. left them."
Winter frowned. He expected this conversation to happen again, but not so soon. It did give him something else to focus on for the time being.
"Princes....The people loyal to you...are either hiding or..." He paused. Dead was the next word, and while he typically didn't mince his words it wasn't for her sake it was for his. His father was dead. He wanted to use this time to grieve himself but he was too focused on her to do so and he couldn't show it. She wasn't grieving yet, she was still in denial, wanting to go back, once she accepted that she couldn't go back, maybe she'd grieve and then maybe he could to. "There's nothing you can do for them now, but live, get strong....heal. We'll come back, this I promise you." He said and his voice trailed off.
He looked down, fiddling with te broken blister on his finger. "And it is my fault."
He said and didn't look up at her. He couldn't face her. "I was there that night, when she took you, I let her, I knew if I came charging in, she would have me killed, or worse, so I had to leave you there, prepare all of this and try to find a way to-to--"He stopped, tears pressuring his eyes. Winter never cried, even as a child, he'd broken all manner of bones and not a single tear and while he wasn't now, this was probably the closest he'd ever come to it.
"I should have been there for you, at least to stop them from.... He stopped again, looking up to keep the guilty tears from falling. He knew deep down that this was the best course of action, his logical mind told him that this -despite her suffering- was the better alternative, but still, his heart punished him for it. He ran his hand through his hair.
"I'm sorry, Drew." He said, not Princess, what he'd called her all her life. But Drew.