“To be nice is so often a performance or a requirement. People were nice to me, but only because they were afraid.” Achilles sits forward, elbows propped on his knees and fingers loosely threaded. “Kindness comes from a place of love and respect. It goes beyond pleasantries and pretty words into effort and genuine warm regard.”

But Scout needs specifics. “Lamb loves and protects those in his household. He saved his servant’s daughter who fell down a cliff face. He protected his serving woman from her old master, a bully who wounded her many times. He pauses his important work as a king to enjoy the clay frogs his young son makes.”

Achilles pauses for a moment, eyes still trained on Scout. “Many men become bullies and remain that way, I agree, lad. But I ask that you please grant my son the grace he’s due—Lamb has worked hard to become a better man than me, and against much greater odds.”