Page 40
There it is.
I feel the bond warm instinctively at the mention of Corin, and I fold my hands together to keep the movement from showing elsewhere.
“A lower-district man asked where the registry accepted delivery disputes,” I say.
Vaerith tilts his head slightly, studying my face the way another man might study an unusual insect pinned beneath glass. “Helpful of you to answer.”
“I directed him to the public clerk.”
“Did you?”
“Yes, my lord.”
His thumb taps once against the folio edge.
“Talen reported a disturbance.”
“Talen creates many disturbances.”
One of Vaerith’s brows lifts at that. The expression almost resembles genuine amusement. “You dislike him.”
“I find him administratively inefficient.”
A quiet laugh escapes him, low and brief. “That is a cold insult, even from you.”
“He left his registry escort to posture in a public square. If the west correction had been delayed, the household would have absorbed the penalty.”
“Always the numbers.”
“They are less prone to vanity than people.”
“Are they?”
“Usually.”
Vaerith’s gaze lingers on me for another second before he turns toward the mirror. His reflection smiles a fraction before he does, the delay subtle enough to be deniable.
The glass clouds beneath his fingertips, then clears into a high-angle view of the registry courtyard. I see myself beside the dry fountain. I see Corin standing opposite me with his hood shadowing his face. Even through the distortion of the scrying mirror, I can feel the pull between us as vividly as I felt it standing there in person.
Vaerith watches my reflection instead of my face.
“Who is he?” he asks.
“I do not know.”
“You spoke to him for several minutes.”
“He was persistent.”
“And you indulged him?”
“He asked about contract fees. I told him public offices do not negotiate private infernal debts.”
“He is not ordinary.”
“No.”
The answer leaves my mouth before I can reshape it into something softer.
