Eight months outside the Temple, and Vaelor had aged in ways that were not visible and were entirely real.
Maren had said it to him directly three weeks ago, in the way she said difficult things without decoration, without building up to it. She had looked at him across the desk in the private study and said: you look like a man who has been running on something other than sleep for a very long time. He had not argued with her. Arguing with Maren's accurate observations was a waste of both their time.
