The voice came to her an hour after sunrise.
She was sitting by Ainen's fire with a bowl in her hands. She had eaten three of them already, slowly, and Ainen had not let anyone take the bowl away. John sat beside her. Corvin sat on her other side and pretended he was there for the fire.
Then she went still. Her eyes went far away.
Almond knew that look. He had seen it on thirty thousand faces the day they came through the Door.
"Oh," she said. "Oh, there's someone talking."
"What's it saying?" asked John.
"It says I built a power within me." She frowned. "On my journey. It says how I lived determines the weight of my soul." She laughed a little, softly. "It's late, isn't it? I've been on my journey a long time."
"It's late," John agreed.
She looked at the air in front of her. Almond could not see what she saw. She did not show it to anyone.
