Caius paused at the door.
Looked at Elara.
"The sealed record," he said. "The official registration is being processed. The administrative director's office confirmed today."
"Good," Elara said.
"Three weeks," he said. "And then it's in the permanent record." He paused. "I wanted you to know. Since you—" He stopped. Started again. "Since you found it. And kept it."
She looked at him.
"It was yours to do something with," she said. "I kept it until you knew what that was."
He was quiet for a moment.
"Thank you," he said.
Not the palace version. The other kind.
She nodded once.
He left.
The dining room was quiet.Mahir was still at the window seat, looking at the river, which had gone dark in the evening and was visible only as movement and the reflection of the city lights on it.
She was at the table.
The working list between them.
The system on the windowsill across the room, not on her shoulder — the corner of the table distance, the equivalent privacy position.
