"I can't tell you my thoughts are my own."
The words had come quieter than anything she'd said at the flap.
"I probably never will."
Bronnya's head turned.
"His magic could have shaped me in ways I would never see, and perhaps he himself wouldn't be aware of. That's the nature of the thing. I don't know if I'm the girl you lost, or I'm still me. I can't prove it to you."
Her gloved hands folded together in her lap.
"What I have is every memory. Every feeling about each of you. I want to believe that is still real."
A pause.
"I want it badly."
Her gloves tightened.
"That's all I can offer you, and I'm sorry if it's not enough."
The tent held.
A sound came out of Bronnya.
She had not meant to make it. Her hand came up and pressed hard against her mouth. The brave tanker who faced down impossible odds and jumped into harm's way for the sake of her friends found herself taking the kind of damage no amount of sturdiness could help her deal with.
