He spent the morning in the study, because that was where work lived and work was what he had when the thing he most wanted to be present for was something he'd correctly decided not to attend.
He was aware, through the bond, of Sera's location — not tracking exactly, just the ambient warmth of her at a manageable distance, close enough that the connection ran at two-thirds strength rather than the long-distance murmur of the months when Tavri had been in the corridor. He could feel the gathering the way you could feel weather — not the specifics, just the quality of a significant thing happening at a remove.
He read the territorial reports.
He answered four letters that had been waiting.
He called Theo Marsh's office about the Ledger's formal integration into the council's governance
