ot sle

nd bargain with every night. Some nights I win. Other nights I lie in the dark staring at the

was the s

asin for a moment. I look tired. I always look tired lately, but today there is something else underneath it, a restlessness I canno

bout Luci

ng and go mak

icular early morning stillness, the kind that feels borrowed, like the day has not committed to itself yet. I

ars, no

ian is an early riser. Earlier than me, most mornings, which I discovered in my first week an

the doo

ntains, still and quiet the way he gets when something is sitting heavy on him. I have learned his versions

ray down wi

aking to Voss

there is something underneath it that reminds me of a fl

m," I say. "I was in the corri

d he say

ders, rigid in a way that has nothing to do with his Al

" I say. "He said the heating w

"That w

ot know what Caden meant by it. I do not know enough to repeat it and I do not know enoug

as all,

rns a

tever is functional, the papers on his desk, the mug in his hand, the space slightly to the left of him. Looking directly a

at me in a way that makes it d

about him. I do not want to file them away. I want him to be furniture the way the rest of this house is furniture, functional and unrem

comfortable around hi

I am comfortable around all

h his expression. "Tha

what you m

of whatever he wants to say, the outline of it, but he does not say it. He turns back to the window

it seems, hav

e all," he s

le

nd sits across the table with her own tea and does not say any

wful," she

rning to

you s

at and I keep my promises even the small ones. It tastes like nothing. "Vo

ound her mug. "What kind

for the diplomatic visit. He d

that means she is sorting through something

ar

thin

k out

meone from Voss's territory. I only caught pieces of it. But Selene, Bowen has been watching you

r. "What doe

ens he

the kitchen door and someone knocks twice, sharp and deliberate, an

Elder

ever conversation I was about to have with Mara j