Travel was never easy. People are too quick, too clever, ready to draw weapons on anyone they see. The men of the world are nervous, scared of anything they do not know. I do not think they have changed much in that regard.

[ There's no point in talking about what men had done when they had seen her. It is bad enough that she can remember Aramas, the tenderness and the warmth and the softness before it had all gone wrong. It is why she is so distrustful now: men have done nothing but harm her so she isolates herself, to protect herself, to protect the world.

It's subtle, but she does twitch a little bit closer, a twist of anxiety inside her. Ellis protects her but there's no reason not to use the company of another person as a means to protect herself. ]

I cannot imagine it being so long. Time always moves so slowly, but it has been a blink.

[ Frowning, she tilts her head, glancing around. ]

It does not make it safer. For me. For us.