Community Room
Anthora was seated at a long table, a remote open before her and a half-full bottle of tea by her right hand.
Ren Zel paused to consider her.
“Do you find the prospect elevating, Beloved?” she asked, without looking up.
“I find the prospect delightful,” he returned gallantly. “But I was thinking that you look as if you are every bit as weary as I am.”
“Well.” She did glance up to him, then, a crease between her brows.
“Yes, I would say that we make a matched pair. There is wine in the keeper. Will you pour for us while I finish this?”
“Certainly.”
He brought the glasses to the table, and took a chair beside her, content to watch her work. It was a station map had her attention, he saw, in particular a section labeled Sereneco Hall Residences.
Finally, she put the remote aside, and turned in her chair to face him. He handed her a glass, and raised his own, proposing a toast.
“To our good fortune.”
Anthora sputtered a laugh. “I do not thank Shan for teaching you that.”
“And yet our fortune has been good, has it not?”
“So it has, but one does not feel quite comfortable calling it aloud.” She sipped, and sighed. “We have each of us accomplished marvels in the last few days. No wonder we are weary.”
“No wonder at all.” He used his chin to point at the portable. “Tell me what you are busy about.”
“Well! Catie has kindly provided me with a comprehensive station map, and the builder’s project diary. It comes about that the builder had planned for grace, comfort, and beauty—all of which was anathema to Tinsori Light. The Sereneco Section is a case in point. Section One was intended to be the station master’s residence; a place of renewal and solitude, should that be desired. There are high-speed access tubes directly to the administrative hall, to the main docks, and to the warehousing section.
“Section Two is similarly secluded. The tubes access what was meant to be the public marketplace.”
Ren Zel sipped his wine.
“I will wish to see them, of course, but I am hopeful. Both appear to have ample area for gardens. And Section Two in particular looks as if it had been meant to be a Healer’s Hall.”
Ren Zel put his glass on the table.
“Have you Seen that the Healers will want to establish a Hall on Tinsori Light?”
She sighed and reached out to cover his hand with hers.
“I have Seen that there needs to be a Hall on Tinsori Light,” she said softly. “The Healing of Delia Bell will find its way to the Lyre Institute, and I make no doubt that there will be those who will come, hoping to be similarly Healed. They must not be disappointed, when they arrive.”
Ren Zel said nothing, watching her face.
“Then there are those who have long hung at the edges—the companions and crews of the Free Ships, and likely others. It is not impossible that they will require the services of a Hall.”
She patted his hand, sat back and had recourse to her glass.
“Will you remain at Tinsori Light?”
“I think I must, for a time,” she said. “I had hoped you would not find it beyond you, to stay with me.” She waved her hand, fingers forming the sign for later. “We are both weary, the subject is large, and the delm must be in it. Nothing can be decided tonight.”
“That is true,” he said, picking up his glass.
They sat in companionable silence until the wine was gone. Anthora put her glass aside with a sigh.
“There is something which I am called to in my capacity as a Healer,” she said. “I have promised that I will undertake it tomorrow.”
Ren Zel frowned.
“You are,” he said, “a Healer.”
“Indeed. And thus I am called to Ren Stryker to attempt to Heal a possible agent of the Lyre Institute, who has been kept sedated for some time so that he not kill himself.”
Ren Zel took a sharp breath.
“Of course, you must go,” he said. “Only not alone.”
She smiled.
“We are in agreement. Hazenthull and Tolly Jones will act as my security.”
Ren Zel nodded.
“Very good. I need have no concerns at all.”