Isabella tilted her head, thinking. "The telescope," she said. "We never fixed it, the small one with the scratch on the lens.
He said the scratch made the stars look like they were dripping light. He liked it because it was wrong."
She looked at the window, though the curtains were closed. "He can't see our sky from there, but he can pretend. That helps more than people admit."
Liliana closed her eyes. "I'll oil the hinges on the trunk so it doesn't squeak when I open it."
Seraphina lifted her head. "We'll need to ask the dean before we send anything with a ward woven through it. Even a small one."
Lilith nodded. "I'll speak to her again. We already made our peace with waiting. We can still make the waiting gentle."
A quiet fall that wasn't heavy. It had space in it. It let them breathe. The lamp glowed a little warmer as the daylight outside faded. The wards hummed. The house felt like it listened and approved.
