Location:Zhū'kethara, then East
Date/Time:23 Ashwhisper, 9942 AZI — Dark, and After
Realm:Upper Realm
They had the door out of the yard by dark, which was faster than it deserved to be, and by then the coat was back on the rack, folded the way she had folded it, and the count was running again from the top.
Ren put everyone out of the writing room, shut the door, and took the crystal out of the case it lived in.
It warmed slowly, the way it always had. Somewhere under it, a very long way down, something enormous turned over and paid attention.
Brother.
"Cangwei has been in my upper court for two days," Ren said. "She left an hour ago."
The pause that came back was not the pause of a man deciding what to say. It was the pause of a man who had been handed something he had not budgeted for.
What did she do?
