[ Nina listens. She hears a bit more than Alina is saying, hints of the experience Alina must have had as she grew up, half Shu, in a land where the Shu were the enemy. ]

I'm sure some of them do think that.

[ Now is when, if she was going to try to Play Alina, she'd say nothing. She'd trail off in artful, thoughtful silence and have her mark ask, open up the pathway to manipulate and sow the right seeds. Instead: ]

Although I'm not sure they have a 'home' to go to, I'm sure some of them do think of us as a drain on their resources, an unexpected difficulty. What else do you think they think about us?