Kai still hadn't moved.
The words hung in the air like a ghost refusing to pass on.
She spoke.
Ralts spoke.
Her voice had been quiet, feminine but not soft. It held no emotion, and yet it carved through the silence with the weight of something impossible. It was like the dry hiss of wind against graveyard stones, threaded with intelligence. Deliberate. Aware.
"You… spoke," Kai whispered.
Ralts sat on the floor, legs folded beneath her, her hollow eyes glowing faintly. "Yes."
"That's not-you're not supposed to be able to. You have no soul. You don't have… will."
"No," she agreed. "I don't."
Kai ran a hand through his hair, pacing now. His mind raced, like an unsolved puzzle clicking into place. Only one variable had changed. Only one piece had been different when he'd raised her.
The rune.
The one etched on her forehead.
