There's some hesitation. It's not that it's too painful to talk about or anything like that, but more that Rita doesn't really care for being pitied. Still... she'll give an honest answer. It's probably best that this guy hears what the fae are capable of, rather than finding out the hard way.

"That other me was a changeling. Spent her whole life in the fae realms, as a prisoner of Ignatius, the so-called Lord of Conflagration. Raised to be some kind of tool. She escaped, spent a couple years living in Portland, and then the Rose Queen started recapturing changelings... some of them, her friends. So she made a few allies, tried to strike back." She shakes her head, her expression wry. "It was a disaster. People took heavy injuries... they barely got out alive."