you don’t have to go through this by yourself
She had learned not to rely on others; to lean on anyone else was to grow dependent upon a crutch that could be pulled out from beneath you with no warning, and no thought. She’d done it once before, and lying in its wake, crumpled and alone in the dust of what once was, she had found herself. She would not be likely to make such a mistake again.
And yet… it was nice to hear.
She cared far too much for those within her Syndicate; other leaders surely did not feel such empathy, for their coalitions were working machines, instruments of war and power. But she knew their hearts; she knew they deserved more. A firm ruler and an iron hand did not always have to be the same thing.
And so she looked up from the papers she had spread upon the table, palms remaining flat-pressed against the harsh headlines and hastily written features. The pinch of her face softened – but only just. She took in her ally with marked consideration, and the tight hunch of her shoulders lessened. A subordinate, yes. Someone worth controlling, yes. But someone. Zelda was who she was when she was leading, when she stood at the head of the uniformed masses -- and so was Lorelei. She was a face amongst the numbers, a piece at the head of the board. But she was human, just the same. And that, at times, was nice to have.
“I know,” she said, gaze falling once more to the headlines below, to the chilling reminder that there was always someone over their shoulders, no matter how powerful they may be, “But you shouldn’t have to shoulder my burdens. My demons are my own – I wouldn’t wish them on anyone.”