The words hung in the air like a dropped blade.
The Ukai Ruler is dying.
For a moment, nothing in the cave moved.
The lanterns creaked. The waterfall roared faintly in the distance.
Elin just stared at Alan.
Her chair creaked as she leaned forward.
"What do you mean, dying?" she asked.
No joke in her voice now. No lazy edge.
Just sharp.
Alan held her gaze.
"I mean his body is failing" he said. "You know... The usual way. The way it happens to people who live too long."
"That's not an answer." Her fingers curled against the table. "Was he poisoned? Is this an assassination? Some new Nyx strain? A curse? Is it... Vor? Tell me you did not drag yourself into my cave to say something as vague as his body is failing."
"If it were poison" Alan said, "Ukai's healers would have burned it out. If it were a disease, they would have isolated it. And... If it were Vor, none of us would be here."
He watched her for a beat, then added, quietly:
"It's none of that."
