Aleksander has never lied to her, even when she may have wished he would; there is, by his estimation, no greater kindness he could have done her. He couldn't control the Sildroher, and he couldn't control Baghra, but he gave her options that no one else had.

She chose. He neither dismissed nor countered it, even when he perhaps should have. And now here they stand face to face again for a second time.

"Can there ever truly be understanding between two who are not equals?" he asks, but it's borderline rhetorical. He strongly believes there cannot, and he's seen it over and over and over again. "Where has he gone, then?"