Cosima closed the door behind her.
She had a folded paper in one hand.
Council paper with the official seal and fold.
Unofficially stolen, if I knew her at all.
Which I did. Well.
“A summons reached Astra through Juno’s basin,” she said.
I blinked.
“Juno’s basin?”
Cosima nodded.
The Mark under my sleeve brightened.
“You’re sure?”
“Juno does not spend authority for theater. She would not have told me if it wasn’t true.”
I looked at the basin in the corner.
Dark now.
Apparently that meant nothing anymore.
“Quill is moving faster than Linden likes,” Cosima said.
“You know that how?”
“Linden’s assistant writes with too much pressure when he is unhappy.”
Trusting Cosima had always been dangerous.
Tonight, I’d never felt more relieved to have her on my side. Even if it was breaking her heart to be there.
She crossed to the desk and set the folded paper beside my father’s note.
“This is the inventory request.”
“For the formal?”
“For Astra.”
I flinched back and didn’t touch it.
Cosima noticed.
She always noticed the thing a person didn’t do.
“Open it,” she said.
“You opened it already.”
“I did.”
