Alisaie's aware the question isn't actually directed at her. She isn't entirely certain that he's noticed her at all, save perhaps as another presence to be accounted for in the strange daylit bustle of the square. But she's been puzzling over the construction of the - dream? illusion? - herself, and the bonfire's a central part of her operating theory, and so once she parses the question, she has a possible answer to offer.

"The bonfire's the strongest source of aether in the entire town," she says. "I know little and less about the actual practice of crafting illusions, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was what anchored the entire construct."