He muttered the last words under his breath.

“How can I admire her?”

There was something in the way she said that which touched him. He leaned forward to her.

“Why not punish her for it?”

“How?”

“Reveal what she can’t imitate.”

“What’s that?”

“All you hide and I divine.”

“Go on.”

“She mimics the husk. She couldn’t mimic the kernel.”