Chapter 538 - Two Trees for One (1)

The five days after the festival slid past like neat columns added and balanced, and Arielle liked that very much. The city still rang with music at night—pipes wandering into alleys, someone always deciding the last song wasn't yet the last—but mornings belonged to ledgers, stamps, and decisions that made sense when written down. Light in the solar came in clean and square across the table; dust motes floated like settled accounts. Lyan kept pace beside her, coat off, sleeves rolled, jaw clean-shaven for once. He wore that careful half-smile that meant he was thinking three steps ahead while pretending he wasn't, and when she slid a paper under his hand, he read as if paper could talk back.