Seraphine was waiting.
Not in the formal study....in the smaller room, the one that felt more like a place she actually lived than a place she performed power from. Two chairs. Tea already poured. The specific deliberateness of someone who had arranged this and wanted it to feel different from a debrief.
Eve sat.
Seraphine sat.
They drank their tea in silence for a moment.
"You're leaving today," Seraphine said.
"Yes," Eve said.
Seraphine nodded. She looked at her cup. Then at Eve with the direct attentiveness that had characterized every interaction they'd had since the first one....assessing, present, entirely without performance.
"I want to tell you something before you go," she said. "Not as an ally. Not as a faction leader." A pause. "As someone who knew your mother."
Eve went still.
