Sarya did not turn immediately.
Something in the voice held her still.
It wasn't fear that rooted her to the spot. It was recognition. The sound reached deeper than memory, touching a part of her that seemed older than everything she had experienced since the Nexus first awakened within her.
Around Archive Three, every resonance thread remained motionless.
The tiny blade of grass beside the pedestal leaned gently toward the unseen speaker.
Grace's hands trembled.
The change was so slight that anyone who had met her only recently might have missed it, but Sarya had watched Grace long enough to recognize the difference. Until now, Grace had carried herself with the quiet confidence of someone who had already survived her greatest loss.
That certainty was gone.
Slowly, Sarya turned.
A man stood a few paces behind her.
