Chapter 372: The People at the Table

Ren heard the Terrace before he saw it.

Yuelan’s voice carried down the steps, followed by laughter and the rattle of a pot lid. Vesper went up ahead of him with her bag over one shoulder. He followed with the wrapped harness in his pack.

Cassian was sitting at the table.

His back was to the stairs, his cup held between both hands. He had turned halfway around to argue with Yuelan, but when Vesper reached the top, he looked past her.

"There he is. Sit down before they eat everything."

Ren leaned his pack against the wall.

"They let you stay for dinner?"

"Through dinner," Cassian said. "The last few sessions went well enough. I have to rest before the trip back and be through the treatment-wing door by the late bell. Iris is coming with me."

"And you agreed?"

"Before anyone could shorten it to a cup of tea."

Lyra came through the door carrying a dish on a folded cloth. She set it in the middle of the table, and the smell reached Ren before she lifted the cover: sweet onions and a sharp green herb.

"Iris cooked," she said. "I helped. Sit."

He pulled out his chair beside Cassian.

— • —

The stew was thick with roots and greens. Beside it sat a plate of fried slices, browned at the edges, which Yuelan had already drawn toward her place.

"Those were my idea," she said.

"You asked four times," Lyra said.

"And you made them."

Iris brought the bread and sat on Ren’s other side. Flour marked the inside of her wrist. She reached across him for the serving spoon, noticed it, and rubbed it off on her apron.

Kaelen sat near the door, his bandaged hands resting beside his plate. The small teapot was within reach. When Yueying held out her cup, he poured carefully and set the pot down with both hands.

Vesper tucked her bag under her chair and began eating. Her notebook stayed inside.

Ren took stew, bread, and two fried slices. The onions had softened almost into the sauce; the herb cut through their sweetness. He finished the first spoonful and reached for another.

"Well?" Iris asked.

"It’s good."

She looked at his plate, then back at him.

"The onions," he added. "How long did those take?"

"Long enough that I thought I’d ruined them."

"She tried to take them off twice," Lyra said.

"I was hungry."

"So am I." Ren tore off more bread and dipped it into the stew.

Cassian reached for the serving spoon when Iris set the dish near him. Yuelan half rose with her hand out, then sat back as he filled his own plate. He put the spoon down and asked Lyra to move the bread closer.

"The treatment wing’s cook could learn something from this," he said.

"Which part?" Iris asked.

"The salt."

"Too much?"

"Not enough. I’ve mentioned it."

"I can’t imagine you mentioning anything only once," Yuelan said.

Cassian took a bite before answering her.

— • —

Yueying asked about Mei while they were passing the dishes for seconds.

"She’s out," Ren said. "She’s safe and resting. Eira’s staying with her while she settles."

Yuelan nodded and pushed the fried slices toward the middle of the table.

"Has she decided what comes next?" Lyra asked.

"Not yet. She wants to rest and wait for word from home."

Ren turned toward Yueying.

"She asked how we found her. I told her about the instruction you found."

Yueying lowered her cup.

"The receiving reference?"

"That, and the worker Dole’s people spoke to. He’d heard someone behind her door, but he hadn’t seen her. We knew it was Mei when she called her name."

He paused, remembering how clearly her call had carried.

"Your paper got them to the yard."

Yueying set her cup down.

"Thank you for telling her."

She reached for the bread when Kaelen passed it, and the conversation moved on.

"Eira will want to know what you cooked," Lyra told Iris.

"I’ll send her the list."

"And how long the onions took."

"She’ll know."

Ren helped himself to more stew. Across the table, Cassian was watching the last three fried slices on Yuelan’s plate.

"You’ve had five," he said.

"Four."

"I saw the fifth."

"You were talking."

"I can do both."

Yuelan looked at the plate, then pushed it toward him.

"One."

Cassian took one. When she turned to ask Lyra whether there were any more in the kitchen, he took a second.

Vesper saw him and kept eating. Ren looked down at his plate before Yuelan turned back.

"There aren’t," Lyra said.

"There were three here."

Cassian was chewing. Yuelan took the last slice before he could finish.

— • —

The lamps had been turned up by the time Iris asked about the trip.

"Were you hurt?"

"A blow caught the guard. My hand went numb for a while."

Her eyes dropped to it.

"The feeling’s back." He spread his fingers on the table, then closed them. "The glass is scored. It’s wrapped in my pack until the craftsperson checks it tomorrow."

"Before you wear it again?"

"Before."

She nodded and gathered his empty plate with hers.

Cassian was still eating slowly. He had stopped arguing over the food, but he joined in when Yuelan tried to make Lyra admit she had put aside another plate of fried slices.

Ren leaned back in his chair. He could hear the spoon against Cassian’s plate and Kaelen setting down the teapot. Nobody had propped a slate against the fruit bowl. When Cassian wanted to interrupt Yuelan, he only had to speak across the table.

Eventually he put his spoon down and sat back.

"That was worth the terms," he said.

Iris checked the time.

"You’ve got room to rest. We’ll clear up."

"Leave my cup."

She left it beside his hand.

Ren carried the plates inside with Iris while Lyra brought the serving dish. The kitchen was warm, and the pan on the counter still held a layer of browned onion.

"That one’s yours," Lyra told him.

He looked at it. "You saved it?"

"You weren’t here for the cooking."

Ren rolled up his sleeves and filled it with water. Iris dried the plates beside him. Lyra put the food away, then came back to point out a patch he had missed.

"I can see it."

"Then why is it still there?"

"It’s soaking."

She leaned against the counter and waited. Ren scraped the patch loose and held the pan up for her inspection.

"Better."

Iris took it from him to dry. He reached for the next dish before Lyra could find him another job.

— • —

Cassian had been resting in his chair when the cart’s lamp appeared below the Terrace. Iris brought his coat out and gave him time to put it on.

He left the cup on the table.

Ren went down the steps beside him, with Iris on his other side and Lyra following. Cassian kept a hand on the rail. At the bottom, they waited while he took hold of the cart’s handgrip and climbed onto the step.

He settled on the bench before Iris got in.

"Next time I’m staying for the washing-up," he said.

"Next time you’re doing it," Lyra told him.

"Put that in the request."

Iris drew her coat clear of the wheel and sat beside him. Ren stepped back so the driver could turn.

The cart went up the campus road. Cassian raised a hand as it passed the steps, then lowered it to his lap.

Ren and Lyra watched until the lamp rounded the corner.

"He ate well," Lyra said.

"He kept count of the fried slices."

"Don’t let Yuelan hear you say that."

She slipped her arm through his, and they went back up. Halfway to the top, Ren slowed to let her lean against him.

"Tired?" she asked.

"Full."

"Good."

— • —

Vesper was still at the table with Yueying when they returned. Kaelen and Yuelan had gone inside, and someone had put fresh water in the teapot. Lyra sat beside Ren and poured what was left into their cups.

Yueying’s slate sounded before he had taken a sip.

She read the notice, then brought it closer to the lamp.

"The registry collection has moved," she said. "They’re taking requests again."

"The one with the docket?" Ren asked.

"Yes. It’s at the new office."

She read out the office’s name. Vesper took her notebook from her bag and wrote it down.

"Do you need the extract back from Dole?" Ren asked.

"No. She has the authenticated copy. I’ve kept my notes, the reference, and the acknowledgment from when I obtained it."

Yueying laid the slate beside her cup.

"I’ll book a visit in the morning. I want to compare the entry at the new office."

Ren nodded. The notice said the collection was available again; there was nothing in it about the docket itself. Yueying would have to ask for that.

Vesper closed her notebook and put it away. Lyra pushed the teapot toward Ren, but he covered his cup.

"Still full?"

"Still full."

She left the pot between them. Ren drank his tea while it was warm.