Page 251 of Salt Between the Wolves

"Then I would rather wait."

Neither moved.

Eventually, with visible irritation, Soren sat while Varda settled opposite him and Kael remained near the door.

"The records disagree on almost everything," she said. "The surviving accounts are incomplete, and most were copied centuries after the original records were lost."

Soren's jaw tightened.

"That isn't an answer."

"No. It is the problem."

She leaned back slightly.

"But certain details appear repeatedly. The bond was never described as something carried by one person."

His gaze sharpened.

"What does that mean?"

"It means what it sounds like. The old stories speak of a bonded pair."

"The pair with two voices."

Varda nodded.

"Two voices. The stories describe the bond as something shared. One voice could call, and the other answered."

Something cold moved through Soren's chest.

"What if they didn't?"

The question came too quickly for comfort, and both Kael and the healer noticed.

After a brief silence, Varda answered.

"The stories claim the bond was completed through choice."

"And if there was no choice?"

The healer looked away briefly.

"I don't know."

The admission seemed to cost her something.

"I know what the stories say, and I know that none of the accounts describing separation ended well."

Kael pushed away from the wall.

"What does that mean?"

Neither of them looked at him.

Soren's eyes remained fixed on the healer.

"What happened to them?"