She watched her companion turn away from her, and at the subtle hitch in her voice, the way her eyes were anchored in some distant point, she hesitated. Her hand lifted away from her, and should Bethen not flinch or give any sign of recoiling, she moved to touch her shoulder gently. There was no real weight to it but the warmth of her skin, the gesture ghostly in itself and meant to be reassuring of the fact that she took no offense.
"Do you doubt it?" she asked after a pause, posing a question meant as an attempt to catch a glimpse of the world through another pair of eyes. "Or did you ever doubt it? Your humanity, I mean? You mentioned you were raised to do so...but do you or did you ever believe it?"
She lowered her hand after that. "I know I've never lived in Kinloch Hold," she continued. "But I am trying to understand, and if you feel that I'm getting it all wrong, by all means feel free to yell at me. I'd rather be corrected than be wrong forever. I won't learn anything through complacency, so there's no need to apologize. This is your life...for all I know I'm just a visitor, but that does not excuse me from making assumptions and you should correct me whenever you feel like I'm making them. The truth is important to me. If there was anything that I'd like you to know about me, however long or brief our journey together is, it's that."
The sorceress's last remarks were followed by a brief pursing of Deidre's lips. "To be with him in what way?" she asked, an inquiry meant to seek clarification rather than make any presumptions towards the kind of relationship Bethen had with her friend. While her tone was gentle, however, she was no less straightforward in posing it. "And what do you mean by 'up until recently'? Did something change?"