[Natalie's expression softens in an odd way when she listens to Ilsa's story. She can't quite decide if it's nice, or if it's even the truth, or even possible.]

So the "supernatural" and the mundane mingle, where you come from. Has it always been like this?

[She frowns and looks away.]

We maintain a "Masquerade", and hide ourselves from the public. We live and work in the shadows. Some very old, very powerful ones pull the strings in high places. Quite a lot of more of us scrabble from night to night, trying to carve out a niche in our society. We keep each other in check. There are rules. There are expectations. There are punishments.

I sometimes wonder how long we'll be able to keep it up, in this modern age.