“God, you really are Seventh,” Pal laughs. It had never occurred to him before now, but now it seems obvious. The question itself is one he has confronted hundreds of times in dozens of permutations, both within and without the Sixth House. It’s one he has asked himself plenty of times. “People can use the truth to be cruel just as easily as they can lies, and I know plenty of people who do,” he concedes. “But truth, real truth, isn’t just the first thought that pops into someone’s head. It takes work to discover. It’s complicated, and it’s far more important—far kinder, too.” He sips his tea. “Whereas lies can sometimes be nice, but they are never kind.”