[Folwren]

Thornden inwardly felt relieved. At least Léof had not gotten angry and completely shut himself up. A little defiance was good to see, too. It was something to work with, if it could be turned into effort.

“What were you supposed to do?” Thornden repeated, adjusting his shoulder on the door frame. He looked off to one side. “Have you been doing something wrong, and what are you to do now?”

He considered the three questions silently a moment. “I do not think talking about what you might have done differently will be much help. I do not think you actually did anything wrong in giving your opinion, and you did not assault Scyrr, which I believe you considered doing. The only thing you allowed to happen that you should not have was letting their comments get to you, but that will be answered by what you should do now.

“You are defensive about your status, and that causes you to be sensitive about what other men say. No one agrees entirely with everyone, Léof. You cannot take their disagreement as a slight or an insult. Now, clearly sometimes some men will mean it that way – like Scyrr today. But don’t stoop to his level and respond in the same fashion.

“So, I would say what you should do is be less afraid to put your opinion out and be more willing to answer other men’s criticism of it. Tell them why you think it, and don’t let them bully you into not expressing it.”

He shrugged. “Will that give you enough to think about and work on for now?” he asked.