Elias carried the empty tray out through the service door, and Atheron waited until the latch clicked behind him.
Hajin kept both envelopes beside his scraped bowl while Juna's palms stayed flat on the cloth next to his own. Didi still left her cup untouched, and the morning slid back toward the kind of matters nobody enjoyed over porridge.
He lifted the sealed recommendation, keeping the second envelope where everyone could see it.
Atheron set a finger beside the wax on the nearer dispatch, "Those are not papers some clerk stamped between yawns, I read every line and wrote the guarantee myself, so my reputation walks into that guild hall beside your name,"
"and I would rather you understood that before deciding the whole thing weighs no more than parchment."
Hajin pulled the envelopes together and nudged them clear of the sticky dishes.
'Two letters, and the man lending me his name wants me to know what breaking it costs.'
