[ The little goat seems to be getting impatient and squirmy, so Rhy pulls his hand away. For a few moments, his eyes look beyond Mat, recalling days spent running around the kitchens pilfering sweets and getting underfoot, Kell always pretending he'd been against every silly plan young Rhy had come up with but always going along with it anyway. ]

I know the feeling. [ Rhy concedes quietly. He looks away, but it's not the animals or flowers he's seeing. ] Ever since we met. My parents brought him home when I was only four summers old, but the moment I saw Kell, I knew what he meant to me. I love him with all my heart.

We've... never been parted for so long.

[ He can't even be enthusiastic or grateful for Mat's declaration about new friends. He wants to be. But like so many other things he wants to be and all the masks he wears, it rings hollow even in his own head. It's been so long since he's actually spoken about Kell -- except to Lila, to worry about him -- that he can't help himself anymore. Mat seems like he understands. ]