Altaïr starts to give the only answer he can — yes, he's all right, he was not one of those taken and tortured, not was he greatly injured in the rescue efforts, and he will not be left scarred by the sight of yet another corpse — and then he stops.

"It's not the execution that troubles me, however gruesome it was," he says after a moment. "But I found myself wondering — what I could have done to stop what led to it. Why I didn't see it coming."

Arrogant thoughts of a man who's tried to humble himself. He knows he is just one person, and one person can't hold back the tide, and yet.

"I've held myself apart since arriving here months ago," he continues. "I live by my creed, I try to do what I can for the people even if they are not my people, but I've lived as though this is all temporary. And now I can't help but think I've done some damage by not investing myself in the life I live now, however long it lasts."