Kylo's head tips slightly. "That's not what your Aleksander claimed. Or what I reported, after I retrieved him from the tunnels where the two of you left him to die."

But he's only half-interested in all that. The grotesque beauty of Alina's collar has his attention, alongside the mention of obedience. The shackles she had worn in the Horizon. Kirigan's mention of their difference of opinion, in the world they had both been brought from.

There's an intriguing picture developing here.

"Kirigan was far more interested in pinning the blame on your friend and his youthful exuberance," he murmurs. "He was surprisingly protective of you, for a man who could hardly walk unaided."