[ Hermione knows he's trying to help - Anders is family, now, and the warmth he offers her is far more than she could ever deserve - but it feels like a lead weight, and her hands shake as she breathes in and out, trying to calm herself down. It's the source of her nightmares, of her bad dreams, memories that haunt her years after the event. She doesn't understand how he can still want to sit beside her, knowing what he does.

But he holds her all the same, and she blinks back her tears, trying to tilt her head and be strong. ]

I felt like... An animal. Like I was everything that people thought about me. My title... I was the Lioness Courant. I was supposed to be the Protecter of Caer Glaem, but I didn't even have the chance to protect the people that meant the most to me.

[ She feels like a monster, sometimes, and... Slowly, hesitantly, she reaches up and takes the ring she wears around her neck off, breathing in and out, gritting her teeth. Just as carefully, she offers it out for Anders to look at. It's a beautiful thing, and she holds it carefully, as if it might break. ]

This is something else I need to talk about. Is that okay?