You're not guilty, Dain wants to say, but manages to bite it back in time. He hasn't completely forgotten himself. "It's a skill to learn," he says instead, "like any other. No one is born acting like something they're not. Nor can anyone change their feelings at the drop of a hat."

He's struck, again, by how contrary this situation is to every other he's experienced where the Profane are concerned. Either you learn to stay hidden very quickly, or you learn to defend yourself very quickly, or both. Does Detlef's lack of skill speak more of this village's isolaton, or of his kindness and care? The latter, Dain decides, and he cannot help but feel responsible for what happens to Detlef now, which was precisely what he'd been hoping to avoid.

"Heresy, yes," he answers quietly. "Inadvisable, no."