It was a thoughtful question and Ariadne decided to give it a good deal of thought before she answered. But, of course, the second he asked, she already knew. Slowly, she nodded. "It feels like..." Oh. How to do this while still pretending to be his friend? She mulled over the most remote of kingdoms she'd visited, selecting the absolutely worst one. "It feels like Ruatha," she said. "In the days before the Red Dragon crossed the border. When the whole kingdom was under siege. Everyone was just waiting for the bottom to fall out."

Which was how Valeria felt now. But, of course, Dean would know that. And Ariadne didn't like to talk that way about home. As if there wasn't any future left.

There was a future. There were one million eight hundred and ninety six possible futures. And at least a few of them were perfect.

"Yes," she said. "It does. But what?"