---
Her voice spilled into his mind in chaotic, overlapping fragments.
"You were hurt," she said. "You were stupid. You fell down a battlefield. You bled. You did not call for me. Why did you not call for me. You smell tired. You smell like too many dead things and not enough sleep."
Kai swallowed past a lump in his throat that had no business being there.
"I was busy," he said.
It was a terrible answer. She accepted it anyway.
"You are always busy," she said. "That is why you have me."
He almost laughed. It came out more like a choke.
Behind him, someone cleared a throat with the cough of a person who has just realized they have walked into a very significant moment and would like to register a complaint with the scheduling committee.
Luna stood in the doorway, eyes wide open.
