Page 61 of Alien Burn

Sheira caught his wrist without looking. “Wash.”

“I did.”

“After training.”

Tivek looked at his hand as though surprised to find it attached, then went to the basin.

Dhomhes moved the bread within his father's reach. Ruthak took the last piece from the top of the pile.

“Cruel,” Tivek said over his shoulder.

“More beneath the cloth,” Sheira told him. “Sit before it goes cold.”

He sat and managed three bites before announcing that his instructor had let him complete the descent sequence.

Dhomhes listened to the account twice. The second telling included a much closer brush with disaster, which Sheira addressed with one raised brow.

“Not actual disaster,” Tivek said. “Possible disaster. If I'd been slower.”

“Were you pleased with the run?” Dhomhes asked.

His brother looked at him, briefly stripped of performance.

“Yes.”

“Good.”

Tivek ducked his head over his bowl.

Dhomhes let him eat a little more before mentioning the attestation.

“I asked the office to explain the difference between your requirements and Ellon's. They haven't answered that question yet.”

Tivek's spoon stopped.

“Are they going to?”

“I'll keep asking. I'll send you what they send me.”

“All of it?”

“All of it.”

Tivek looked at his mother. She was buttering bread, apparently occupied with getting it right to the edges.

“I don't want them passing me because you're angry.”

“Then you'd better complete the ritual properly. Being related to me won't make the descent shorter.”

“Might make it longer.”

“Entirely possible.”

Tivek smiled. A small one, but it stayed.

After that he wanted to know about the residences, and whether the visitors had been allowed into the market terraces, and whether Dhomhes knew a dark-haired female who spoke as though she expected him to understand ordinary words.

Dhomhes set his cup down.