[This is so hard- talking about something he definitely doesn't want to talk about, dancing quietly around the truth. Because explaining himself means explaining the source, and that drags Somnus and Regis and all that ugly history along with it, and it doesn't feel right to do that while they're here. Maybe she already knows? Maybe Somnus had shared some of that truth with her. He should have checked first...

He looks conflicted again, the seconds dragging on as he struggles for the words, until finally he manages,]

I'm trying to learn a new spell, but I can't do it unless I know how to meditate. How to listen to my magic, if that makes sense? [Or listen to the voices of the kings who will teach it to him, anyway. Close enough.] You seemed to know what you were doing last time, so... can you help me do it again?