[Liem hums in quiet acknowledgement, finally dropping his gaze back down to the mark etched into the skin of Matt’s palm. He manages not to notice the spike of anxiety his question has inspired; that quick beating of Matt’s pulse could just be from their contact, after all. Gods know he felt his own pulse jump a little when he reached out and that contact didn’t pull away.]

I understand. It’s hard to be here and to be alone. Without guidance.

[He’d felt the lack of it so painfully, and so incessantly, from that first moment months ago in the Champion’s shrine, when he’d first reached for Abadar’s presence—and been met with nothing. When he finally reached for his book and found that it was actually there, it seemed clear he’d manifested it out of sheer desperation.]

At first I thought you’d chosen yours. It wasn’t until Howl told me about the ritual in the throne room that I realized I’d been mistaken.