“You get forever unless you waste it in political Barrani games. There’s no way someone who has eternity is going to surrender it for a few decades of constantly imperfect life.”

“True—if she had a choice. I don’t believe she intended to be accused of treason; I don’t believe she intended to lose the entirety of her family and her line. The rooms in which she did the bulk of her work were sundered from her; if she could visit them again, she could not do it the traditional way—by walking through the doors.” Teela frowned. “Convince Jamal.”

Terrano, however, shook his head. “This is a containment. It’s meant to somehow trap ghosts. I think it’s possible to break it.”

“Or we could just have Jamal give Mrs. Erickson permission.”

“I don’t think that’s the smartest idea. Not if we have alternatives.”

“And I don’t think you should try to break things you don’t understand. Look, to Azoria, the starting point of dead is the freeing of True Names. If you somehow walk into whatever this space is, how do you know you won’t be trapped there as well? We already know that Azoria could somehow leech words of power. You still have your name—did you want to become fuel for whatever it is Azoria has become?”

“Not really, no. But I don’t think it’s that kind of trap.” He moved forward. Teela attempted to grab him by the shoulder and failed; her hand passed through his body.

Kaylin turned to Hope. “Make him stop.”

Hope squawked; Terrano shrugged. Hope then squawked up a storm of screeching syllables.

“Good point,” Terrano replied, grimacing. His body, which looked pretty much the same as it always did, began to shimmer in place; it became a livid green. Terrano at least retained Barrani form. But the color he’d adopted—possibly at Hope’s urging—was familiar for other reasons.

It was the color of the flower in the painting Azoria had created—the flower twined into the braided nest of Mrs. Erickson’s hair.

“Why that color?” she demanded.

Terrano ignored her.

“He can’t hear you in that form.” Or not. Teela was annoyed. “He doesn’t see color. Hope suggested that he ‘stand’ in a slightly different space, and he considered it. He moved. Sedarias is just one side of enraged—the wrong side. I know I wanted to somehow reach these people again—I wanted them to be with me. I cannot for the life of me remember why.”

Mandoran snickered. He was behind Terrano, and Kaylin watched as he—more slowly—shifted into the same shade of green. She realized that Terrano had lost some visual definition by comparison. “Don’t worry about him,” Mandoran said—in words Kaylin could actually hear. “I’ll anchor.” He held out a hand to her.

Kaylin stepped forward and took it.

“Teela?”