Frost looked between them. "Could one of you explain that in a way that won't make me want to shake you?"
Yasmine smiled, but Goldwyn merely pushed the plate closer.
"The essence leaving this crystal should reach the other, apart from a small amount lost during transfer. When you place your hand here, that loss increases."
"Am I absorbing it?"
"Possibly. It could also be dispersing, or taking a path the instrument can't detect. I'm not going to give you an answer simply because you want one."
Frost swallowed his next question.
For once, someone had found something. He wasn't about to ruin it by being impatient, though keeping quiet was proving difficult.
Goldwyn studied him for a moment.
"You've spent all this time trying to recognise void by looking for something that behaves like an ordinary element. That may be part of your problem."
"How else am I supposed to recognise it?"
"By observing what actually happens, rather than deciding beforehand what you ought to feel."
