"This is a bit of both. What I want is for this rebellion to succeed." Would she like his loyalty? Of a certainty. She would prefer, though, to be worthy of it.

Reshad nods at the mention of Eshpatan, this being something familiar from her studies. Not the more far-fetched - that world, reading between the lines, had hardly thrown itself on the Heptarchs' mercy in awe of their kindness, or given up its governments as offerings of peace - but the timelines, those she knows.

Assuming they weren't lies, too, whether incidental to drama or more intentional.

"I was ten when I went to the Vidona school," she offers, in return. "But if you saw the files, you know as much."