The conversation at the gate went on.
At some point Edric put one hand on the gate bar — not pushing it further, just a touch, the way you touch something to confirm it's real.
Reine didn't move back.
Then something changed in his posture. Subtle. The kind of shift that happened when a man stopped performing the argument he'd arrived with and started actually being in the conversation he found instead.
He nodded once.
She nodded back.
He got into the car.
We watched it pull away from the gate. No rush. No performance. Just a car leaving.
Reine stood in the gateway until it was out of sight.
Then she closed the gate, latched it, and turned back toward the compound.
Her face, as she crossed the yard, was the most unreadable I'd seen it. Not closed — beyond reading, the way faces go
