He peers at her a second time, more tentative now than in the face of her depthless stare. Breathes out, the sigh running through him. His own shoulders relaxing. “I'm William.” They're nice words. Heartening. He'll have to hope there's something behind them.

“You should ask what I did.” It doesn't occur to him that there's no ready answer. That he'll have to stand here and pick apart the knot of anger, remorse, and seething bitterness that hasn't gone anywhere. “Wardens acted like they were being considerate, but I think it was...they didn't want it to be their problem.”