Alright, so Valdis knew Kit. Odd, then, that his knowledge of the Fade hadn't come up in their conversations. Surely his knowledge would have been of use to her, unless...

Ah. They must not be close. (That suggests good things about Kit's relationship with Rutile, at least, which is rather gratifying.)

"Agent of Death?" Rutile asks, their brow furrowing. "You'll have to elaborate on that, as well as on the notion of them being attached to light and darkness. There is no equivalent where I come from."

It's a philosophical quandary whether shattering counts as death, and the conclusions are different for every gem; Rutile's feelings on the issue are rather complicated. Regardless, light and darkness seem to have no association with life or death either way.