The silver clasp came undone with a soft click.
Su Lan let the heavy grey fabric of her uniform slide from her shoulders. It pooled around her waist, then she shifted to let it fall completely to the floor.
Beneath, she wore simple, thin under-robes of pale linen. The room was cold, and Lin Tian saw the fine hairs on her arms rise. She didn't look at him, her gaze fixed on the wall beside his bed.
"It's not just you," she said, her voice tight. "My physique. The Flowing Ember Body. It's… it's meant for volcanic regions. This place," she gestured vaguely at the icy stone walls, "it's like a constant weight on my lungs. The heat has nowhere to go. The sect's cold temperature suppresses the symptoms, but it doesn't cure the cause. It just makes the eventual backlash worse."
Lin Tian understood. Two broken engines, he thought. Hers is overheating in the cold. Mine is freezing from the inside out.
"The link," he said slowly. "It sensed the compatibility. Fire to balance ice."
