"Maybe not." She's not sure about that. Somewhere, she'd like to think, his soul lives on. Somewhere safe, hopefully somewhere warmer than Barrayar. But even if it doesn't, and everything that made the Cetagandan him bled out, what happens matters to him a little, if only his memory. Corpses whose dignity has been taken away from them are wrong, even if there's no one inside them anymore. "But it should matter to us."

Beth looks up at him, spending a moment or two taking him in. She can't begin to guess what he's thinking. "You're one of the new outsiders, right? What's your name?"

It's stupid, as far as small talk goes--they sleep in the same tent, he's obviously one of the new outsiders--but she's not sure how else to begin. The last thing she wants is to keep talking about the execution to anyone, not just this man.