"It will be over before she's old enough to know who anyone is," Alistair says, abandoning the sentence, and eschewing realism for comfort. Maybe they'll all be dead instead. But his mother raised him for a year, apparently, and he believe she was dead from the beginning, and turned out... mostly all right. He can buckle his own boots and everything.

The more comforting thing might be to say he'll be around, but that's a bigger lie than he's prepared to tell.

"Then you'll be able to settle down somewhere. Maybe you can convince Zevran to stay clear of Antiva and raise little elves somewhere safe."

Maker knows Alistair won't be able to.