The formal dispatch from Frument arrived three mornings later.
It came in Tavin's handwriting at the top, precise and administrative, every letter legible, the way Tavin's letters were always legible.
The top of the page held the standard alliance language. Updates on Frument's position, its civic work, its crop distribution, and its current obligations to Sun Harvest under the signed agreement.
However, Alistair read the top section with little interest. Routine. Due would note the useful parts later, but the rest was the kind of document written to maintain a relationship, not to transmit anything new.
Below Tavin's handwriting was a second note in a different hand.
It was shorter, and more ink on the letters than necessary, the handwriting of a woman who had been writing carefully and quickly at the same time, pressing harder than she needed to because she was thinking while writing.
Alistair read Sera's note aloud, since all four of them were at the table.
