I stared down at the messages. My eyes kept flicking between them and the set of her face, careful not to make it obvious, careful not to miss a single thing Maggie was sharing with me. As the lodestar had said, this was an important moment for the two of us, and I didn't want to fumble it.
'Something similar happened with Kassie. She got a second sword, and Cindy. I wonder what Maggie's going to get.'
Her voice was thin. Maggie had a thin, high, sonorous voice by nature, but right now it came out hoarse, scraped down to almost nothing, catching in her throat like every word cost her something to push out.
She sat with her arms crossed and her chin level, wearing the same composure she carried into every room. She looked confident. Indifferent, even. But it was there underneath all of it, and I could hear it plain as day. The pain was there.
