Damn it, and because he's who and what he is, he can't help but hear the trace of tiredness in her voice, see the creases in her face. His future. Unless he dies. Or lets Ren die, in which case—what?

"Well, it's stupid. Probably just an excess of testosterone." His hair tumbles round his face as he peers down at his potatoes. "Morgana picked you out, right? That was how it was for me. He was the one who called me Ace. Told me there was something special about me—just buttering me up, obviously.

"Don't tell him I said that," he adds, looking sleepily around for their resident not-cat. "I mean, I awakened first, before we met Morgana. That's all it was."