Isole sat at the table and looked at the household ledger.
She picked it up.
Mara took it out of her hands immediately, without expression, without breaking her stride between the counter and the stove.
"Was that the accounts ledger or the other one?" Isole said.
"The other one," Mara said.
"Am I in it?"
"Sit down."
Isole sat down. She looked at Vane with the mismatched eyes. He looked at his cup. She looked back at Mara. "Since when does a twelve-year-old run an intelligence operation?"
"Since always," Mara said. She set a bowl in front of Isole. "Eat."
Isole looked at the bowl. She ate one bite and stopped and looked at the bowl again with the expression of someone recalibrating an expectation significantly upward.
"What is in this?"
"Eastern spice blend," Mara said. "Adjusted."
"It's extraordinary."
"I know." Mara sat down. "The sourcing situation is ongoing."
