"I went to learn from another shardholder. One who had been in this world for many years already. Ser Reynard taught us how to draw strength and speed from our shards. There's power in them and it's not just for the kings and queens to use, but we can do the same." Gendry had admittedly learned it slower than the others, because he had been learning more about the sword than the shard inside him. But he'd picked up enough. "In the end, though, he tried to betray us. He near murdered us all just to get our shards. It's the only way to get them out of us. We have to die to lose them."

He frowned as he stared at his feet. "In any case... I think Ser Reynard lost his shard once. But he replaced them with others. He gutted other people to fill himself with as many as he could. When he showed us the scar, I felt my own shard inside me. It burned, like it wasn't supposed to be there, like it wanted to join all the other bits he'd already taken. I think it wanted to be whole. Or close to whole as it could be."