[ She laughs - more obviously because he is right. Head tilting back, her fingers running down the mare's nose in a content gesture. ] Oh I am hardly cruel enough to ask you to walk the seven steps with me.

[ Merciful, really, because there in lay the problem wasn't it?

She unwinds her fingers from the mare's mane, the dark strands slipping from her fingers and she takes a step towards him. A set of her shoulders stiff and back. ] Because it would be cruel, I think. Forgive me my lord for saying so, you seem the kind that finds solace in as many smiles as those who you leave bereft of them.