[ Rhy shakes his head. He senses he's... upset her somehow. It isn't difficult to guess what she must be thinking, if Julie is truly dead in her own world and the Singularity brought her back here. He'd thought it might be similar to how it brought him, but in his case, a different connection had been severed and replaced instead of merely forged.

And he knows that it was severed. He can feel it. ]

No. Our connection-- it was something constant, something we both could feel. His pain was my pain; if he cut his hand, I felt it in my own, and vice versa. Even strong enough emotions carried over. I could tell if he was angry or sorrowful or if he hadn't gotten enough sleep. When I got drunk enough, he felt it. And gave me an earful about it too. [ A short, dry laugh. He shakes his head once more. ]

When I was pulled from that pool of water in Castle Thorne, I couldn't feel any of that anymore. But eventually, I realized I could feel the Singularity. Last winter, during the Dimming, I could feel its agitation. And its... need, its hunger.

Then, the Thornean mages pulled him out of the pool. Kell. My brother, who saved my life with his.

And still, I felt-- I feel nothing. Except the Singularity, just as before.