( if he hadn't been certain of the way he was looking at her—at them, then—then the way that it visibly sets some part of petrana at ease might speak for itself. ah; there. a comfort when she had had just long enough this morning to second-guess almost everything she had thought and assumed—

no, there, the way he looks. and julius, prising himself open for his sake. for theirs.

it is not all bad, of a morning. )

We thought we could not discuss the matter further without you, ( she reiterates, ) but we agreed, before you came, what we would wish for. It is somewhat uncharted territory, but I have myself gone on—more than one unanticipated journey.