He turned to her. "We all are." Their breath became fog, became gold, became stars that floated into the air and hovered. As each wife stepped further into the space, it changed again.
Susan's thought brought wildflowers. Stella's summoned a stream of honeyed water that curled through the moss. Zoey's desire pulled silk and cushions into being. And Sophie - Sophie's resistance drew sharp angles and cool stone, balance against the lushness.
Then something deeper stirred.
A presence.
Not threatening - but curious. Watching from behind the veil that separated this dream from what lay beyond it.
Rose knelt first, placing her palm to the mossy floor. "This isn't the breach," she said. "It's the veil before the breach. The in-between."
Jude crouched beside her. "Then where is the breach itself?"
A voice answered - not Alara's, not the forest, not anything they had known.
It was Jude's voice. But it spoke from above them.
"Inside you."
Everyone froze.
Jude stood.
