"You keep saying you're not the man I knew," Felih whispers, "But if that were true, the thought of breaking my heart wouldn't matter to you."

He reaches for the Exarch's crystalline hand and holds it fast, pleading as he looks up at the other man. "I want to stand at your side, Raha. I want to do everything I can... everything I must. I don't wish to fail you yet again, not when- not when you've..." His voice trails off as he swallows hard, eyes roaming over all the exposed crystal he can see, how the other's mane has turned white from the way the Tower has claimed him.

Raha cannot keep going on like this.