If she had a little more presence of mind at the moment, she would have noticed the way he stiffened up at her embrace. As it is, though, she's just close enough to sensible that she doesn't resist when he pulls away. He says breathe, in that cool, calm voice, and she does. Slow inhale to a count of five, hold to a count of five, release to a count of five. She can almost hear her aunt marking the seconds for her.

But Lenore's not the one hanging on to her shoulders. Lenore's not the one asking her for what amounts to a report.

Breathe.

"They were hunting you. Um. I don't know who they were, but one of them was named Chiruk. They called you Darkling, they wanted you to come back to work for some king. Luda was hidden, healing you like um... you asked her if she remembered Ryevost."

Athena presses the fingertips of both hands to either side of the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes. "They kept shooting you with arrows, and she kept healing you. But then they caught her, and..."

She looks back up at him, furious tears filling her eyes again. "They murdered her. And then you killed them."

Athena blinks. It hadn't registered, somehow, until she said it out loud. Even after living through that memory multiple times, it hadn't registered that Kirigan had killed all of those men. Even seeing their insides spilling out, she'd been so caught in the rage, in the triumph, in the bitter vindication. Ten lives, in retribution for one.

If he or any of his men slaughter one more of my--

They deserved it. Everything in him in that moment believed it. She can't help agreeing right now.