Her eyes settle on his face as he speaks. And her dark eyebrows draw together, giving a troubled cast to her face. The thing is - she's talked with plenty of mages so far, heard their calls for power and respect. And it's not like she'd shrugged them off, certainly, but the discussions really have all been in abstract terms - talk of Harrowings (whatever that is) and Templar guards (so what) and demands for respect. It doesn't really leave much of an impression, beyond a general understanding that mages are disrespected. Hearing the man's narrative - that horror, that abuse, that's...visceral. It hits her harder than any talk of mage rights so far. It hits her harder than she could have anticipated.

So she watches him intensely, and looks unhappy. And she just ignores his request to talk about something happier. Instead, her voice a little quiet, she says, "Is that really what it was like for you?"