The smell reached him at the garden gate.
Whatever Mara had decided to make, it had been going for at least two hours. He followed it up the steps and through the front door into a common room that already had people in it, which was the specific warmth of a villa that had been empty for three months and had finally remembered what it was for.
Ashe was in the armchair with her boots off and a small bowl in her lap she had clearly negotiated from Mara ahead of schedule. Lyra was at the table with her glass ledger open. Isole was in the other armchair with the book she had left on his desk two days ago, her staff leaning against the wall beside her. Valerica stood at the window with a cup of tea, looking at the hill.
"Isaac is not here," Ashe said.
"He has four minutes," Lyra said, without looking up.
"I am hungry now."
"Those are unrelated facts."
