Vencian spoke first, voice level. "Can you give the heads of the two who attacked and the academy."
The man's fingers tightened on the sill, wood creaking under his grip. His head snapped toward Vencian, jaw set hard.
"You're crossing lines."
Vencian shifted his weight, boots scraping stone as he turned enough to face him fully.
"They ca after and a place under the crown. Killed people and tried to injure . I didn't invite that."
The offer sat between them like every other hand that had reached for him lately. A claim dressed as opportunity. He felt the pull of it and pressed his heels into the floor to stay where he stood.
The man's shoulders rose once, then fell. He looked past Vencian at the room, eyes flicking to the desk and the door, then back again.
"No."
Vencian nodded, slow, and let his hands drop to his sides. "Then there's no deal of any kind."
He didn't feel defiant. He felt set. Nothing moved unless he chose the step.
Silence held. The man dragged a palm down his face and breathed out through his nose.
"There's a bakery in Ralan market. Sells round loaves with a burnt stamp. Go there every other day for a week. If you want us again, that's how you say it."
Vencian kept his eyes on the man and didn't move. "I'm not agreeing to anything."
The man's mouth twitched.
"You won't lose anything by taking the address."
The man swung one leg onto the sill, then paused.
Vencian lifted his chin a fraction. "What's your na?"
"You ask questions late." The man glanced back, one hand already on the fra. "Talanand."
He pushed off and vanished through the window.
Vencian didn't follow him with his eyes. He stayed where he was until the room settled, then turned away.
He sat on the edge of the bed instead of lying down and tugged the pillow into place behind his lower back. His fingers brushed the edge of the bandage at his ribs, checking pressure, then he let his hand rest there. His eyes stayed on the ceiling.
Quenya hovered lower than usual near the foot of the bed. She didn't interrupt.
Vencian drew a breath and held it. His eyes closed for a count, then opened.
"They're murderers." He let the breath out as the words followed. "They killed students because those kids didn't fit their faith."
The words stopped carrying weight once they were out. He let the doctrine fall away.
"They call anyone who doesn't submit an infidel… Stupid shit."
Quenya tilted a fraction and went still.
"They would've killed too," he said. "Looks like they found another use."
He looked away toward the wall and shifted his shoulders.
Leaning forward, he reached for the cup on the table, fingers circling it without lifting. He straightened as his thoughts turned.
"I can accept that extremists flagged Seris as valuable." His fingers tightened around the cup. "Her blood ties are public."
He paused, cup still in his hand.
"What I can't reconcile is the state doing nothing," he said. "A competent kingdom would narrow her exposure and reinforce protection."
He set the cup down and nodded once, jaw easing.
"That didn't happen."
Quenya drifted a little closer.
"What are you going to do now?"
Vencian didn't answer at once. He stood and turned his head toward the window.
"You were right, Quenya." His hand settled against the sill.
"Last ti was dangerous and it's only getting worse. I can't do this."
His grip tightened on the wood as he faced the glass. Not alone at least.
He started pacing, boots tracing the sa short line. He stopped at the window and pressed his thumb into the old scar along his forearm.
"Since I got here, everyone wants a part of ." His boots traced the sa short line.
"Kingdom politics. Roselys asking for help. Her father. A demigod demanding paynt. Pentarch hunting the chalice in . Now them."
"The pattern's obvious." He halted. "They're all circling like vultures circle their prey."
He stopped moving, turned away from the window.
"I can't stay reactive." He sat back down. "And I can't keep mistaking pressure for guidance."
Quenya eased closer, attentive and quiet.
"Every power that ca at wanted ownership." He paused. "Not cooperation."
"There's a difference," he said. "Between groups that demand obedience and groups that trade protection, information, or leverage."
He breathed once, steady.
"I have to choose for more than tomorrow."
A soft knock touched the door, followed by a brief hesitation, knuckles hovering before contact ca again.
Vencian didn't answer at once. His gaze stayed on the floorboard near the bed, breath held, then released.
"Co in."
The door opened just enough for Lua to step through. She closed it carefully behind her and paused just inside the room, hands folded, eyes already moving.
Her gaze caught on the board, the pinned notes, then the dagger sunk into the wall at an angle that spoke of speed rather than practice.
"Ignore it," he said, before she could ask.
She nodded once and looked away. A folded shawl was placed on the back of the chair even though it wouldn't slip, fingers smoothing it flat twice.
"When did you get to Ralan," he asked. "You weren't expected yet."
Lua turned toward the bed but didn't sit. One hand adjusted the cuff at her wrist, straightening a seam that wasn't crooked.
"First day of the Days," she said. "I planned to do the rites with you. Thought I'd surprise you."
Her mouth lifted at the end, light on the surface.
"But you weren't awake," she added. "So I suppose that part didn't go as planned."
Silence followed her words.
The tone stayed even. Each word landed with care.
Hands remained clasped too tightly. Shoulders stayed fixed, held in place by effort. Breathing stayed shallow and asured.
She lost her husband.
A breath passed.
She lost her firstborn.
Another.
Jeriko is still between days, and no one can say when that ends.
Her eyes lifted and t his.
From where she stands, I am the last thing still upright.
The thought stalled there. No answer ca with it.
mory surfaced without warning. Leaving for the academy. Her standing at the gate, posture straight, voice steady, telling him to co back whole. The promise he made then pressed faintly at the ribs.
Weight shifted back against the bedfra. Eye contact broke as his shoulder leaned into the wood.
I told myself I'd be him when I see her again.
But after that letter, the shape of that promise no longer fit cleanly.
Feet planted firr on the floor.
But still… I have to start from sowhere.
Standing ca first, slow and deliberate. A step closed the space until his presence filled her line of sight instead of the room.
"You should prepare for tomorrow." He closed the remaining space. "I'll do the rites with you. We'll honor the ancestors properly."
The words stayed in the air after he finished.
_ _ _
Next Morning.
They arrived early, the shore still quiet enough that the water folded in on itself without noise carrying far. Vencian stood a few steps back from the sand at first, feet planted, watching the line where damp darkened into dry. Only after a mont did he step forward.
Lua knelt and began shaping the sand with both hands, drawing it upward into a low form ant to hold rather than display. Fingers pressed, lifted, and pressed again, careful about symtry. Vencian crouched beside her and reinforced the edges where the sand sagged, packing it down with the flats of his palms. The shape held, modest and deliberate.
They straightened together. Hands hovered near each other before contact ca, a brief pause where neither moved. Fingers then closed, her grip firm, his answering.
She began the rites. Words ca steady, asured. Vencian followed, mouth moving a fraction after hers, always half a beat behind. Breath matched cadence. No sound carried beyond the two of them.
When the final word passed, neither shifted. The sea kept moving. Their hands stayed joined.
Across the shore, above the waterline and set into a weather-worn wall, writing showed through peeling liwash. Seen over their shoulders, half-obscured by distance and salt stains, the words read: "Sanity makes life monotonous. Sensitivity makes it painful."
A brief glance caught it. No change reached his face. Attention disengaged at once.
Stillness held. A breath drew in and went out. His head tilted back. Eyes opened to the blue above, light unbroken by cloud.
Sothing eased, faint and unconvincing.
Hands released. Sand clung to their skin.
When they turned to leave, Vencian looked back once, eyes settling on the shaped sand as the tide edged closer, then away.
Steps resud along the shore before speech ca.
"I'm going to Marendil manor," he said. "I need to speak with Larion."
Lua slowed. "You should rest more,"
She waited as Vencian ca to halt and angled toward her.
"I've co to a realization, Mother," he said. "There's no rest for in this life… Perhaps in the next."
No edge sharpened the words. They landed as stated.
Movent carried him ahead, angled away from her. Several paces passed before he stopped and turned back just enough to speak again.
"Contact House Hadethon," he said. "There's an unfinished eting."
The delivery stayed neutral.
"Are you sure," Lua asked.
She didn't step closer. Her hands remained at her sides.
"Yes."
The answer ca imdiately.
Only after did the recognition settle. Reaching out to Hadethon would seal off other paths. A claim left dormant was being acknowledged by choice.
Walking continued. The sound of water returned to fill the space as Lua remained where she was, watching him leave.
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