[Even if she did... he wouldn't really know how to respond. He's confident someone would have put her out of her misery sooner, rather than later - she was once their classmate, their friend, and none of them were so heartless as to want her to suffer...

And they needed to eliminate the threat of her sharp aim on the ballista. Even with the hill fortress burning down around her, they couldn't know if she'd manage to fire off another bolt or two. So it was just... war.

Her question, though... a change of subject, though just as uncomfortable to think about.]

Either during the assault on the monastery or very shortly afterwards... he was arrested by Imperial forces, framed for murder, and set to be put to death. Dedue helped him to escape, and nearly died himself for it. We thought they were dead until we returned to the monastery after five years.

[They thought Dedue was dead for even longer than that - though that feels like a superfluous detail at the moment.]