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“Do not use the title as though it erases what this costs.”

“I do not erase costs. I determine whether they purchase sufficient value.”

“And do I?”

The question carries no plea for reassurance. She wants to know how I measure her.

“You secure succession, remove Varrus’s most useful accusation, and bind Lowtown’s informal leader to this house. Yes.”

Her expression remains controlled.

“You selected me because people listen to me.”

“In part.”

“So my influence becomes yours.”

“If you use it intelligently, our interests may align.”

“You mean if I persuade Lowtown to accept your rule.”

“They already live under it.”

“Acceptance and endurance are different.”

A servant knocks and enters carrying a wooden tray. The household clerk has provided the promised copy of the supply list.

The servant presents it to me.

I gesture toward Fiona.

Confusion crosses the human man’s face. He turns and offers the ledger to her with a bow too shallow for a lady and too deep for an ordinary human.

Fiona accepts it herself.

She reads the totals, then checks the distribution marks beside each Lowtown lane. Her attention is quick and precise. She recognizes household numbers without consulting another record.

“The southern lane has eighteen registered households,” she says. “This lists seventeen.”

I look at Sarveth.

“The registry was updated after a dwelling burned,” she says.

“The family moved into the old cooper’s house,” Fiona replies. “They still require grain.”

“Then the register is incomplete.”

“Correct it,” I tell Sarveth.

She inclines her head. “The additional allotment will be sent.”

Fiona opens the ledger again.

“The northern row receives less tiphe.”

“Its dwellings are smaller,” Sarveth says.

“They also stand closest to the mountain wall and lose daylight first. They burn more fuel.”