"I'll check the kitchen, figure out lunch options." He caught Azelon's gaze, his expression unreadable. "You two can handle exploring the ocean room."
Before either could protest, Jamie strode from the room, leaving them alone together for the first time since their argument.
Corin's projected emotions immediately intensified, making the air charged and restless. A book slid from the shelf, thudding to the floor between them. Azelon recognized it—"The Tideborn Exile Rituals."
"This store sure has opinions," Corin muttered, reaching for the book.
Azelon was faster, snatching it up and replacing it on a high shelf. "It's meddling in matters it doesn't understand."
"And what matters would those be?" Corin tilted his head, amber eyes challenging. "The ones you refuse to discuss?"
Azelon turned away. "We should examine the new room."
"Of course. Avoid the question. Maintain the mystery." Corin's voice was light, but his pain leaked outward nonetheless. "Lead on, oh stoic one."
They moved in tense silence to the new room.
Inside, a pool of crystal-clear water occupied most of the floor space. Its surface was perfectly still, reflecting the luminescent coral formations that grew from the ceiling. The walls had transformed into what appeared to be underwater cavern walls, complete with small crustaceans skittering along the rocks.
Azelon's breath caught. It was a perfect replica of a Tideborn sacred pool: the kind used for communication between settlements. The kind used for sending messages to the Council.
"It's beautiful," Corin breathed beside him. "Like something from a dream."
He knelt beside the pool, fingers hovering just above the surface. The water seemed to reach for him, forming a tiny peak that almost touched his skin before settling back.
"Don't," Azelon warned.
Corin shot him a look. "Why not? It's just water."
"It's a sacred communication pool." Azelon approached cautiously. "In Tidespire, only Council members were permitted to use them."
"Well, we're not in Tidespire." Corin dipped his fingers into the water.
Azelon tensed, but nothing happened. Of course not. Corin was not tideborn.
He relaxed fractionally, kneeling on the opposite side. "That the store could create something like this…"
"It's trying to give us what we need." Corin withdrew his hand, shaking water droplets back into the pool.
"You think I need a reminder of home?"
Corin shrugged. "Maybe it thinks you need to face whatever you left behind."
The statement hit too close to a truth Azelon wasn't ready to confront. He stared into the pool, seeing his own reflection—blue skin, the markings along his forearms pulsing with a dull light that betrayed his unease.
Behind his reflection, he saw Corin watching him.
"You never talk about it," Corin said softly. "Eight months, and I still don't know why they exiled you."
Azelon's jaw tightened. "It's not relevant."
"It's the reason you won't—" Corin broke off, pain flashing across his features. "The reason you keep me at a distance."
"I keep you at a distance because your emotional projection is dangerous," Azelon said automatically, the practiced line falling flat even to his own ears.
Corin's laugh was bitter. "You know that's not true. You're immune to the worst of my effects. You're the only one who can touch me when I'm projecting strongly."
"That doesn't make it wise."
