She draws a breath, lets it out in a shivering sigh. When she answers, her voice is quiet, her words measured.

"My clan marks," she says, her own fingers finding the hollow of his throat, tracking along his collarbone to the peak of his left shoulder. "They tell my story. My victories in battle. My degrees awarded at the Academy. Every ord, another chapter gets added. My people do not age as humans do, so I suppose it's a visual reference for how many years we've been alive."