"I would not want to have had a child ten years ago, no. And I know that I'd be a lodestone around any child's neck now, but if things were otherwise? If I was not me, had not done what I did? Yes. I would take that risk. There will be a future in this world. I cannot act as if it is otherwise."

He exhales, no longer certain that they're talking about hypotheticals.

"Those who were held by the Circles can slowly heal and learn to live, learn to leave some of the fear that's been relentlessly driven into them behind. It is not easy. It will never be easy. But life... It's there. Waiting. Worth risking."