~Kaida Orion POV~
Lupus's voice dropped. "Answer!"
Kia lowered his gaze. "She is not dead." Then softer, bitter: "She refused renewal, and left my house, took half the land rights with her, human court would not dissolve without cause, so I recorded her 'travel death' to remarry. Paper is cleaner, trade partners calmer. No quarrel, no split."
"And now you bring a new marriage with a dead year beneath it," I said.
He did not deny it, while the green thread thickened.
The veiled girl rose, her voice was soft, raw. "He said I only needed to wear the pearls for the blessing and his house would protect my village water rights."
"You agreed?" I asked.
She nodded once. "We were starving."
She lifted the necklace, thirteen pearls clacked together, and a gap yawned where the center should hang.
"Where is your fourteenth?" Lupus asked.
Kia answered for her. "The center pearl is at my court, it will be presented after the blessing."
