The refuge remains quiet after the recovered name. The folded threshold stands open behind them, while springwater murmurs beneath the dark stone.
Aren Vey
Aren Vey is mine. Merovan’s commands are not. But some fragments show what happened before I refused him, and I cannot tell which parts deserve keeping.
Aren turns his hands beneath the faint springlight. Thin copper shadows cling to his fingers, then fade whenever he flexes them.
Bren
Preserve what you witnessed, what you remember, and what remains uncertain. Abandon the commands that still try to speak through you. The rest can stay unknown.
Aren Vey
If I leave the fragments untouched, they may remain dangerous. If I pull them apart, I may destroy the only account of what Merovan did.
Bren watches the open passage, then Sil’Thalis’s healing palm. No current crosses the threshold, and no mark demands that anyone proceed.
Aren Vey
Before we continue, what should be preserved, what should be abandoned, and what must remain unknown until I can answer for it myself?