"You're blank because you're not letting the world around you show you how full you can be. I swear I keep running into people like you. It's like you can't see what is right under your nose."

He wrapped the bandages carefully around Soubi'a neck, almost tenderly and with the ease of someone used to doing this.

"You couldn't be Beloved if you were half as empty as you've convinced yourself you are."

He surveyed his handiwork and nodded once, satisfied.

"Now show me your hand. And who is this other 'Beloved' you were given to? How many of us are there?"