Alric was clearly somewhat taken aback at that revelation--although he didn't recoil in horror as Tiamaris might have expected. He did scowl, but rather than a look of disgust, it was one more of intense contemplation, or perhaps confusion. He was quiet for a few seconds before speaking.

"Tiamaris. ...I hate to ask that you discuss at length something so obviously--and understandably--troubling... but I'm afraid such a statement demands clarification."

He shook his head slightly.

"You say 'long before,' but neither of us is old enough to have had much meaningful agency long before our abilities manifested. Even if yours only appeared the day before you arrived here. Further, I submit that the man who commits the sort of act you attribute to yourself and who is indeed a monster does not, as a rule, describe himself as a monster."

Alric turned partially to lean his hip against the desk on which he'd set down the parcel, crossing his arms.

"I can't, of course, force you to speak about it... and I regret dwelling on a painful subject, of course, but I cannot in good conscience simply drop the matter, hearing the way you speak about yourself."