The recorder sat untouched between them, its smooth surface catching the dim light of the lantern beside it. Kael stared at it, unsure whether it was meant to awaken something or test what was already there.
Lira paced the far side of the room, her steps slow and even. She didn't speak, but every so often she glanced over her shoulder like she expected something to crack open inside him.
Kael looked at his hands.
"I don't feel anything," he said.
"Good," she replied. "Don't push."
But as he lifted the slate, his fingers brushed one of the silver veins carved into it. He didn't concentrate. He didn't whisper or chant. He simply remembered the sound of Lira's voice when she had said the word "love" earlier.
The recorder pulsed beneath his palm.
The lantern beside them flared blue. Then—
"Love," it whispered, in Lira's exact voice. Then again, softer. "Love."
Kael yanked his hand back. The recorder went dark. The lantern dimmed.
Lira stared.
"What did you do?" she asked quietly.
"I just thought of what you said. About what can be locked away."
"That shouldn't be enough."
"I didn't mean to—"
"Did you feel it?" she interrupted. "When the light shifted?"
Kael hesitated. "I don't know. It felt like the moment before thunder."
Lira moved to the recorder and touched it, but nothing happened. The device remained inert beneath her fingertips.
"That was a playback spell," she said. "It requires mnemonic imprinting. No one can just—"
"I didn't try," Kael said. "I just… remembered."
She looked at him then, fully, and the fear in her eyes wasn't aimed at him. It was aimed at the truth she'd just seen unfold.
"Memory magic doesn't work like that," she whispered. "Not anymore."
Kael's heartbeat quickened. "What does that mean?"
Lira didn't answer right away. She took a slow step back, then another.
"You shouldn't be able to do that, Kael."
He stood. "But I did."
"Yes. And that means someone either gave you that power… or you took it."
She walked to the door and opened it, looking outside. The light had shifted. The wind had changed again.
Lira turned back to him.
"We need to leave this room. Now."
"Why?"
"Because I'm not the only one who felt it."