[If it wasn't clear enough by the look on her face, that pause says a great deal more. Ten years was a long time -- in truth, longer than Ion felt he could truly grasp given his age -- and to put that much experience in words couldn't be easy.]

...you know, I've never really asked about the future of Auldrant before, all things considered. [Even knowing it was a future he'd neither see nor truly be a part of, how was it any different from reading the Score?] But even so, that's... a relief to hear.