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Then leaves. I step inside. Rhyven doesn't look up. "No."

I blink. "I haven't said anything."

"You have the face."

"What face?"

"The one that creates work."

I frown. "I don't have a face that creates work."

He finally looks up. "You do."

I close the door. "I found something."

His expression changes immediately. The sarcasm disappears. "Tell me."

I explain the dates. The reports. Neris. Everything except what I don't know. By the time I finish Rhyven has abandoned the maps entirely. "417." He says.

"Yes."

"Before the Silent War?"

"Not long before."

"How long?"

"I don't know exactly."

He nods thoughtfully. "We find out."

"How? No Archive."

"I know." He leans back. Thinking. Then— "Nyra."

I blink. "You said no Nyra."

"That was before."

"Before what?"

"Before we had something she can research without knowing what happened today." Oh. That's clever. We give Nyra the historical question. Not the magical incident. She can investigate 417 without knowing why we're asking.

I smile. "You're useful occasionally."

"Leave."

"Thank you."

"Leave."

I reach the door. Then stop. "Rhyven."

"What."

I look back. "Do you think they're connected?"

His answer takes longer than I expect. "I think coincidence is becoming statistically unlikely."