Elowen didn't even pause to think before answering. "Let the quiet do its work," she said, her voice steady and certain, carrying the weight of someone who had lived long enough to know restraint was a gift, not a burden.
"We can love them without being the last face they see tonight."
Lilith nodded, satisfied. She had always believed in restraint, not as some hollow rule made to keep people obedient, but as a truth worth holding onto.
There was power in choosing not to press, not to crowd, not to fill every space with your presence.
"Then we drink," she said, her tone dipping into something lighter, "and we don't plan for half an hour. After that, we plan twice as well."
Elowen's smile touched her eyes, the kind of quiet smile that didn't need to pull at her mouth to be seen. "Agreed."
Together they turned down the hall, moving toward the smaller parlor, the one that always seemed to know when it was needed.
