BURA-Palace
Roy smiled sadly at the question, the sadness growing a little as she dozed off and wouldn't see his reaction. "Yes...you would have been different," he answered softly, knowing that she wouldn't be consciously listening. But sometimes, it was the subconscious that needed to hear something.
"But you wouldn't have been you. You wouldn't have had to find the fortitude to break out of Evert's shadow in that first battle, where you took command. You would still have been fierce and determined...but it would have been something that you grew up with, instead of something you had to find on your own." He let his hand rest on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze of support and fondness.
"They put you through some shit, that nobody should ever have to go through. They tried to break you, make you subservient and obedient and unquestioning...and even though you were there without anyone for support, you still found a way to rise above it. And that's a strength you would never have had to find if you'd grown up the way Shade did."
He leaned back, letting her sleep, as he settled into the lounge and let his head tilt back, so he could look up through the trees and into the night sky. "It's a damned shame that neither of you got a chance to be children, though. But, truth be told, I don't know where the war would be if you had. You wouldn't have saved Vera by taking command of the ship. Shade couldn't have been selected as the ambassador for Vera and later Uden, when it became apparent that they were not on the same side. That would have left Adem and Evert with positions on the Delta Fleet Board and the APF...and we can only guess where that would have led us."
He lapsed into silence, letting her sleep for a while undisturbed, until he felt himself starting to drift...at that point, he got up and lifted her, carrying her back inside, until he found someone who could tell him where her quarters were. He got one of the palace attendants to pull back the covers on her bed, so he could lay her down and pull a sheet up over her, pausing a moment to rest a hand on her head gently in a moment of benediction.
Then he got up, gesturing for the attendant to follow him out quietly, and then got directions to his own quarters.