"No," she concedes, simultaneously startled and relieved by the way it hurts faintly to acknowledge that. To remember that both of them have lost, and gained, in coming here. "As we and the Sixth continually remind one another, this world is different from our own."

Gideon's hand shifts towards her, fingertips grazing the delicate curve of her pisiform. The flush on her cheeks deepens, just slightly. A muscle twitches, finely, in her hand, but she doesn't pull away.