That's lovely. You capture the moment perfectly: to know and not to know and Pell's awareness of the change. As usual, with the amazing use of language "authoritative humility" = perfect. And "Any witty reparte had been ground to pungent cinnamon on his tongue."

I must confess you kicked in an open door with this one. My very first attempt at writing Wraeththu is a ficlet from Pell's point of view the following day. I was fascinated at the idea of exploring that beginning. (I do intend to finish it--some day soon, I hope.)