The question gives him pause, and Athelstan's light expression fades at the bluntness of Roland's question.

"I... I don't know. I haven't told any of the others of this, but..." He bites his lip for a moment, before glancing off toward the far wall.

"Before I arrived here, my people were ambushed. I ran as men died all around me. I managed to escape the initial attack and ran for hours, but- then I fell asleep in the fields and woke up here. I had thought- well." Athelstan manages a wry smile. "I had thought that coming here meant that they found me after all, that they murdered me in my sleep, but I suppose there's no way to be sure, is there?"