[The usual frown that seems to be van Zieks' resting expression falls away as Amber speaks, if only for a few moments, surprised and almost crestfallen. The images she conjures up so familiar, even if the details are different. He'd gotten a sense from talking to her before that despite... some perhaps slightly questionable decision making, Amber was a respectable person at her core. She could speak well not because she was a smooth talker, but because she was earnest and well intentioned. This only further suggests that impression was correct.]

I... I see. [He pauses for a moment, hesitant as always to give away any of himself on instinct. He takes a sip from his wine to hopefully mask the hesitance.]

My older brother Klint was a paragon of a man even before he became the Director of the Prosecutor's office. He was ten years older than me, so I grew up watching him as well. I wanted to be just like him, not just because of who he was, but because of his passion for taking on the hardest fight of prosecuting those in power who would use their money and status to attempt to evade the law. It was something as nobility ourselves, we could uniquely afford to do.

[He stops in a way that suggests he might continue. There's so much he could say, having found answers for himself. But he has no information about Amber's situation, about her grandfather, and to make any suggestion as to potential outcomes would be reckless.]

... He was murdered ten years ago. It was a case that had repercussions that continue to this day.