“Can you hear it?” Bellusdeo asked. “Why are you making that face?”
“I can’t see it anymore.”
“You can’t see it?”
“Idid. But... I can’t see it now.”
“So...you can only see it with your eyes closed?” Mandoran asked, leaning back on his chair, his arms folded, one brow cocked. “Can you see mine?”
Sedarias lifted a hand, palm flat, and turned toward Mandoran.
“What? I’m not scared, either way. If it were up to me, I’d’ve given Kaylin my name just for the ease of communication. If she knows it, we’re going to be in much better shape if we need to reach her. Mirrors apparently work at the bottom of the Tower, but I doubt we’re going to have one on hand.”
Bellusdeo snorted. “Try it again with your eyes open.”
“I’m trying,” Kaylin replied; she was also trying not to grind her teeth. “But I only see you.”
“Fine. Did you see Ynpharion’s name with your eyes closed?”
“No.”
But Helen said, “Yes.”
“I’m inclined to go with Helen’s opinion,” Mandoran said.
“My eyes werenotclosed then.”
“You close your eyes frequently when trying to separate a word from the rest of the visual noise,” Helen pointed out. “You’ve always been able to see the words when your eyes are closed.”
Kaylin nodded, the frown deepening. For the first time since the dinner, she really wished the Arkon were here. “I just assumed that was the way True Words worked.”
“And you do not often look at people with your eyes closed.”
“No—that would be a bit counterintuitive. But my eyesweren’tclosed when I took that name. If I’d closed them, I’d’ve probably lost half my throat. They were open.”
Helen’s silence lasted too long.
Mandoran exhaled and righted himself on the chair, which he then abandoned. “You know you’re not quite like the rest of the mortals, right?”
“I have the marks.”
“It’s probably the marks, yes. But it doesn’t really matter why. You’re not like other mortals, in the same way we’re not like other Barrani.”
“Hello? I don’t try to walk through walls and get stuck there—among other things.” She avoided looking at Annarion.
“You don’t get stuck in them, no. But, Kaylin, youdowalk through walls. You’re better at it than I am.”
She stared at him, only barely remembering to close her mouth.
“You don’t think that’s what you’re doing?” It was his turn to stare.
“I can’t walk through walls.”
“It is not,” Helen said, coming to someone’s rescue, whether Kaylin’s or Mandoran’s wasn’t clear, “what she perceives, no.”
“What does she think she’s doing, then?”
“Stepping into an entirely different reality. Her perception of herself doesn’t change. Her perception of her solidity remains largely the same. Her perception of you—or Annarion, although I believe this would be true of any of the cohort—is more accurate. But to Kaylin she remains herself no matter how much the world around her shifts.”
