He'd made a reservation, which in Drennick's modest neighboring town meant calling the single good restaurant three days in advance and asking for the corner table specifically, because the corner table was, in Zane's assessment, the optimal configuration for a conversation that required privacy without creating the specific awkwardness of a conspicuously secluded setting.
Petra arrived exactly on time, which he'd expected — she was, among other things, a person who arrived exactly on time, the discipline of her whole life including the timing of her appearances.
She looked at the corner table.
She looked at him.
"You reserved the corner," she said.
"Optimal configuration," he said.
"For what?" she said.
"Privacy without conspicuousness," he said. "Dinner conversation requires a cer
