Maybe it's too much to be thinking about. It's not like it does him any good here, wondering who they might meet or what might happen. Merrin's the only real proof he has that he's kept on moving forward, and for a moment he deliberates whether or not to ask about what happened with the mission.

His hesitation at least gives the Nightsister the chance to seize upon other things and ask her questions. Cal lets his own undecided question lapse, nodding.

"I'm not exactly sure how it works. If it's just a matter of not missing any time from when we were taken, that'd be reasonable enough considering how easily we're taken from places. But I've spoken to someone who had been and then gone and then returned again, with obvious time having passed for him before he'd been brought back. He'd said he didn't remember anything of Temba when he was back home, but it all came back to him when he returned."