[Oh, the temptation to just not answer that. But who knows how long they're going to be walking here, and he doesn't want to make it awkward. When they do answer, their tone is fairly light - trying not to bring the mood down, or perhaps not fully aware of how upsetting this story should be.]

The people of my court consider sentiment to be a weakness. Many of them looked down on me for laughing or crying, when I was a child. My mother, the Queen of Air and Darkness, put an elemental shard into me - it was meant to dampen those emotions, but all it did was... this. And she kept it, to humiliate me.

[While he talks, his hand has subconsciously moved to the back of his neck. Without the shirt to hide it Vaggie might be able to catch a glimpse of that elemental shard - it looks like a chunk of faintly glowing obsidian, lodged in the back of their neck.]