"For as long as this business keeps me here." She had to assess how to approach the subject. Between the warning that she shouldn't talk about the past and that there might be others in this city not brought here by the ancient, she was on unsteady ground. How could one say exactly: 'I want to get this pretense over with?'

She stood, feeling a little intruded on before realizing that she was in a open place and she'd been talking to herself. It wasn't exactly his fault that he overheard her and witnessed a moment of weakness on her end.

"I don't care to be away from home too long." That seemed safe as well. Any native might assume she was simply traveling.