Next day, the rain had learned to fall gently.
It tapped against the ship's reinforced glass like a rhythm trying to remember a tune. Inside the main galley of the newly-bound frigate, warmth gathered slowly from bodies. From breath. From voices.
For the first time in days, most of the Lorebreakers had gathered in one place. A few chairs scraped across the metal floor. Someone passed around the half-loaf of flatbread Aleks had insisted wasn't burnt. Lyn was slicing dried fruit with the new knife Beli had given her, pretending not to notice that it sliced through cutting boards just as easily.
Arthur was there too, seated quietly, spine straight but no longer brittle. He didn't speak much. But he listened. That was enough.
Beli stood at the center of the table with a slate held under one arm. It resumed the ship's technical parameters, runes, links to Halftide's beastcore, its shielding arrays, and the new water-purification circuit Aleks had helped construct. Everything worked.
