He scratched absently at his jaw. "Knowing someone is not of this world is not the same as knowing who they were before," he said. "I can tell when the river doesn't belong to this valley. That doesn't mean I know which mountain it came from."[1]
"So you're not sure if I'm her."
"I'm not sure if *anyone* is her," he said bluntly. "Reincarnation is not a neat road. Souls get chipped, broken, glued to others. Memories shatter. Sometimes the power wakes without the person. Sometimes the person wakes without the power. Sometimes neither wakes at all, and you just get a loud, annoying kid with no destiny—"
He paused, looked at her, and added, "Which, to be honest, is what I prefer."
Kaya squinted at him. "Are you calling me a loud, annoying kid again?"
"If the shoe fits," he said. "Wear it. Don't complain."
She ignored that. "So you really don't know. Not 'pretending not to say,' but *don't know*."
