"Does that matter very much?" because Susan had a guess where this one was from, and she had to admit that there was so much that she didn't understand about the war that she wasn't yet willing to take sides. She hated war. And she didn't much appreciate being drafted, though maybe her opinion would change after meeting the king and queen of her court.

And she wasn't asking just because she sensed her well of information was about to dry up - she was asking because she wanted to know just how seriously the 'shardholders' took their relative alignments. Were they, by and large, all in it together or were they strict members of their courts?