They left on a morning that, for once, looked almost ordinary.
The light still fell wrong.
It caught on branches from directions Vane had stopped trying to reconcile. The trees still curved through their patient spirals, growing as though straight lines were merely one option among many.
But the packing felt ordinary.
Bags tightened.
Straps checked.
Food divided.
Weapons secured.
Six people moving through a doorway with the quiet efficiency of people who had done this before and would do it again.
Vane found that almost stranger than anything else.
A few weeks ago, they had entered Ossara as outsiders carrying a crossing method associated with extraction crews and Imperial violence.
Now Mara was arguing with Ashe about whether one sack had been tied badly.
"It's fine."
"It will loosen in an hour."
"It has survived three hours already."
"That is not evidence."
"It is literally evidence."
Mara ignored her and retied it.
Then opened the ledger.
Ashe stared.
