His hands, where they fidget at the mug, still completely.




You did offer, murmurs a quiet voice in his mind, and he does not want to admit how much its gentle, light amusement sounds like his shijie.

"She died the same day I did." No louder than the Ninth. "The same place. Nightless City. It -- " Swiftly, he looks up. "It is a very short end to a very long story. But I will tell as much of it as you wish to hear."