Then, after a beat, with the slight adjustment that meant he had remembered: "Lian Mei."
"We're in the office," she said. "Your Highness is fine."
Something moved at the corner of his mouth.
He came in. Set his bag down. Looked at the room again with the assessment he applied to all new spaces — exits, sight lines, structural features, the positions of everyone in it.
"The implementation," he said. "It's done."
"This afternoon," she said. "Hale finished at the seventh bell."
He nodded.
Looked at the working list on the table.
"Twenty-seven open items," she said.
"Twenty-six," Mira said, without looking up. "Item twenty-three was completed today. I updated the list an hour ago."
Elara looked at the list.
'Done,' in Mira's precise handwriting, beside item twenty-three.
Twenty-six open.
"Twenty-six," Elara said.
Ken looked at the list for a long moment.
