(Isla)
I stopped before my hand reached the metal. Vaela's warning had come with a certainty I had learned not to ignore. Orin noticed and lowered his hand toward the table. Caius looked between me and the object.
"Don't touch it yet," I said. I kept my eyes on the mark Lyrienne had recognized. "Vaela senses something hidden in it." I didn't know what that meant yet.
Orin placed the piece beside the records. No one reached for it again. I let Vaela focus on it without trying to use her gift. She had already warned me that something was wrong.
'What do you feel?' I asked her. Her attention stayed on the metal. 'Can you tell what it is?' I waited for her answer.
'Memory,' Vaela said. 'It is holding something.' She seemed certain.
That made me look at the piece differently. Vaela could
