[sansa smiles distantly. mabel is a vileblood and her brother is a paleblood; it seems very convenient. the abilities sansa and her siblings possess are too much like paleblood magic for sansa to imagine them as anything else. she wonders who that she knows might turn up with vileblood; randa royce would make quite a good one, she thinks, but it makes sansa very nervous to think about explaining alayne to her. perhaps one of her parents, or poor jeyne poole--all of these seem less likely to sansa than her siblings, after talking to bran and arya through the portals.

but she laughs, startled, when he mentions allen in connection to viktor and palamedes. he does assist viktor with his experiments sometimes, which she supposes must be how mackenzie heard of him, to think of him that way.]

Oh, Allen's not a Scholar--he helps Viktor with his experiments, and he knows a good deal about beasts, but I don't know that he does any research.

[certainly sansa knows people at this party who do a good deal more research, sometimes for her.]

I must admit, I was not taught to research, either. I scarcely know where to begin at the Archives. I would appreciate any help you have to give me, and I must insist you take this bloodstone.

[she presses it on him again. really she has so many.]

I can make more.