The third morning arrived without a word from Lin.
Cain stood outside her office, staring at the shut double doors as if waiting for them to dissolve. They did not.
Abe had already tried to get inside in many ways. He knocked. He smooth talked. He charmed. Yet, the guards stationed there, wearing the insignia of House Zhen, merely bowed and offered the same phrase they'd repeated since Lin's return,
"Miss Roen is very occupied at the moment."
Occupied.
That was the word they kept using.
"She hasn't sent for me even once," Elune muttered now, in a worried voice that was edging toward total resignation, and her hands clutched the hem of her skirt with more force than she probably realized.
"She'll call when she needs us," Abe said automatically, but his smile was thin, almost tight. Even Abe's optimism had worn thin. "Maybe she just needs space."
Elune looked at him sharply. "Space? That's not space. That's exile."
