Errol had been looking through a pile of reference books on botany when she asked her question, and as it sunk in he went from admiring a cover to dropping the book on the floor.
He supposed that he should have expected it at some point, but he had made it this long without anyone asking about before, and he had hoped to make it longer. The people who lived here did so well enjoying the things they had, not knowing how things could go in their various futures. And if anyone didn't need to know about his past and that particular reality, it was Beauty.
He cleared his throat, face going carefully neutral, picking up the dropped book and looking at it instead of at her. "It's not all that important, is it?" he asked. "It was a long time ago, after all."