"Not so long ago, we met the man you call concubine," Alain said thoughtfully. "He summoned those things into our world, and before he died and they faded, they tore apart walls that had stood a thousand years and slew men who had faced demons and ghosts. We have learnt to fear them, never doubt that. Yet I do not fear her." He put his pastry to one side in favour of another mouthful of water, and leant in a little way, meeting her eyes. "I have met monsters, sai Johnson. I have met things that should not exist. And though I've seen what she can become, I stand by it; sai Kaine is not such a creature." He shrugged, just slightly, and closed his eyes. The light was making his head ache all the worse. "Until the very last, until it overtook her, she fought for us. If any of Gilead's folken survive, it will be down to her. I'm not blind to the poison she carries in her, but I do wonder if you may be blind to her humanity."