Nobody at the gate moved for a long moment.
Toran stared up at them, still trembling, waiting for some kind of answer he was too young to know how to ask for.
Mira's hand found Gad's arm, her grip tightening as the words on the parchment settled over both of them.
"That's not possible," Gad said quietly. "I felt it sever. I felt it end."
"I felt it too," Mira said, though her voice had gone thin. "But Gad, I told you about the warmth. In my palm. I didn't want to say more than that last night, because I didn't want to believe it meant anything."
Rennick straightened from where he'd been crouched beside Toran, his expression hardening into something sharper, more alert. "Say the rest of it now."
Mira swallowed. "It's not just warmth anymore. Sometimes, in the last two days, it feels
