[ Four and ten. The way in which she delivers the words tells him everything he needs to know, as supplemented by their initial exchange of questions and answers. A child, used for the sake of someone else's political gain, likely framed as a gain of her own — an honor — when, in reality, little could be further from the truth.

Captivity of its own kind.

First, lightly, ] Such songs are often dramatically embellished, anyway.

[ A joke sits on the tip of his tongue, something about what the expectations are for him, then, as her second husband, but it seems in poor taste. Besides, such a jape is a smokescreen, a way for him to avoid saying, ] I'm sorry. That is a tender age.

I had a few decades, at least, before I was turned. And even so, I wish I'd had longer.