Val, exiting the infirmary, is distracted. This is understandable, surely. A man in his position ought to be hardly anything else. This also means that he walks straight past the man haunting the wall beside the door, and progresses about five to six steps before he realizes there is a voice, and that the voice is--

"You are addressing me?"

--well, that. Val looks around. They are largely alone in the corridor. A healer going about the business of wrapping bandages at a small table. Someone repairing a windowpane. This man who looks as if he has swallowed a rotting fish. Val de Foncé, and he gestures, inclusive, prompting.

"We are now speaking. And?"