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"Because the ic called to ic is It’s part of us now, and some of us will always be drawn to it So unless you take it away coed to do"--I spread ood"

"Good?" The Lady sounded thoughtful

"Well… yes" I sed again "I regret some of what’s happened to me But not all of it"

"I see," she said

Another silence fell, almost companionable

"Why is it better that Shiny stay asleep?" I asked, very softly this time

"Because we’ve coely, I found it easier to talk now It was as if my anxiety had passed some threshold, beyond which it became pointless

"You knohat I auessed

"Yes," she replied "You bent the chains we placed on Itempas and released his true power, even if only for ayou ever since But"--she shrugged--"I was a od The possibility of death is nothing new or especially frightening to me So I don’t care that you’re a dehtlord’s question Does he love you yet?

"Shiny," I whispered

"He was sent here to suffer, Oree To grow, to heal, to hopefully rejoin us someday But hed, and for an instant I heard the sound of distant rain "It’s unfortunate that he met you so soon In a thousand years, perhaps, I could have persuaded Nahadoth to let this go Not now"

I stared at her with htless eyes, stunned by theThey had made Shiny nearly human, the better to experience the pain and hardship ofthem, understand them Like them, even But he could not love them