He sits next to her. He cannot claim that he understands - this is science beyond his reckoning, his expertise is not in this but in people - but he understands Oriencor's madness in terms that are more intimate than any others.

"Aeriel, look at me."

He is trying to look at her, trying to get her attention away from the fish. "This is my fault, and you know it," he says, simply, completely.