"I've since replaced it," she says, with a brief gesture towards the set of shelves; beside the unsettlingly magic skull there is an excellently made blade that is almost the twin to the one she'd originally loaned to Adelaide and then been obliged to very hurriedly reclaim. "If you wished to borrow another."

Benevenuta is not that oblivious to what she's truly being asked. What she is is not interested in discussing it, that much is plain; that she brushes it aside so easily seems almost habitual. There is no part of herself she can't sequester if need be.