The first day was the hardest.
Not because of the pain — Kira had managed that with her specific, unflappable competence, the combination of bloodline knowledge and practical care that made her the only person I would have trusted with this. The pain had settled to a low background note, present but not demanding. The hard part was the stillness.
I sat in the window seat.
The river window. The right window, the one with the best sound, the one I had systematically verified. Darius had arranged it — the cushions positioned correctly, the side table with everything within reach, the specific configuration of a person who understood that the sitting was its own discipline and had prepared the conditions for it.
He sat in the chair across from me.
With his work.
Not pretending to work —
