No one likes feeling helpless, but it is somehow worse for Verin to look at his brother and see Essek experiencing it. This is far beyond Verin's realm of expertise, and if it's left Essek grasping at air, then they are well and truly fucked for understanding this.

Maybe it's just the shock. Maybe, if they have time, they can figure out what exactly happened. Where the gaps are.

Verin looks down, carefully pulling his thoughts together. He can be steady. If this has shaken Essek, he can be the one to shoulder it. And--His gaze flicks up to his brother again, searching. Their mother's voice cuts clearly through his memory, as does the hollow feeling that consumed him when he learned precisely the position Den Thelyss was in. He hadn't wanted to believe it then.

But who knows Essek better than he does?