Elizabeth crouched down and picked up the largest fragment. She examined the jagged edge and noted the three smaller pieces still scattered on the ground. After a moment, she looked up at Alexander, her expression shifting from neutral to something far more intense.
"Alexander," she said.
Alexander looked at her.
"Tell me," she said, with the precise, controlled tone of someone choosing each word with immense care, "that you did not just drop the Key to the Underlayer on a stone canyon floor after we spent three days retrieving it."
"I... I... c-c-can explain!" Alexander said.
"Please," Elizabeth said. "...do explain with some logical twist in it."
"I-I-I stumbled...!" Alexander said. "I was carrying Veylor, and I stumbled...! And it was in my other hand, and I—"
"You stumbled," Elizabeth said.
"It was an accident."
