"At least it was not a tower," she murmurs, and then offers him a faint smile.

"Some things, it would seem, are far more difficult to understand than others. This may well be one of them."

A pause, as one finger taps idly against the side of her teacup.

"But you have survived -- as have the others, I presume--"

If not, she thinks, likely he would already have told her.

"--and there is something to be learned from that, in any case."