a lexicon??>
Sancia and Berenice looked at each other, surprised. whispered Sancia to Berenice.
<…but she still can’t hear when we talk between the two of us,?> whispered Berenice. This seemed a valuable thing to keep in mind.
said Valeria.
said Clef, panicked and bewildered.
said Berenice gently.
There was a long, long silence—so long that Berenice and Sancia exchanged a nervous glance.
said Clef weakly.
asked Sancia.
he said, though he sounded slightly dreamy.
But Orso could take it no more. “This is frustrating as all hell!” he shouted. “I can’t hear a damned thing! You all can’t keep a whole conversation running among yourselves, it’s bullshit!”
“I concur,” said Gregor.
“Oh,” said Sancia. “Right.” She’d forgotten Orso and Gregor couldn’t experience what they were saying. “I’ll just…repeat the important stuff.”
They told Clef of Crasedes’s wrappings, and the bone hidden in his hand, the one that allowed his wrappings to convince reality that he had never truly died. Sancia found herself talking so much she often felt out of breath.
said Clef.
corrected Valeria.
asked Sancia.
she asked.
There was a long silence.
he said quietly.
said Berenice.
Sancia sighed.
said Clef.
Sancia and Berenice shot a worried look at each other. Sancia had forgotten that Clef could perceive or even access the plate in her head so easily. But then, it did make sense: Clef was always good at tinkering with scrived things, and Sancia was, in essence, a scrived thing.
said Sancia.
said Clef.
said Valeria suddenly.
Sancia’s heart twisted as she heard the worry in Valeria’s voice.