[Leslie follows after him with a determined gait that suggests that he has successfully avoided her thinking he's slowing down for her and that she would have tried to keep up no matter how quickly he'd walked.]

I meant it only as a sign of respect. Would Minister Vestra be more appropriate?

[Look, they were talking about horrific colonial behaviour from unknown insectoid creatures, but getting respectful titles right remains important. That said:]

It didn't feel like they had any respect for spellcraft, though. It felt less like they thought we were better than the ones they were treating like beasts, and more like...the difference between a shovel and a window of stained glass. You wouldn't use stained glass as a tool, and you mightn't even think that you own it. But both of them are objects. That was the impression I got from the way they talked.