Page 117 of Salt Between the Wolves

"Our neighbor," Maelin added.

"Our ally," Aldric corrected.

"On most days."

Eira looked between them.

"That still doesn't explain why everyone suddenly looks concerned."

Eira looked between them before speaking again.

"And everyone suddenly looks as though winter itself is riding toward the house."

This time Aldric laughed, and the sound was genuine.

"That's because whenever Leander arrives without warning, it usually means one of two things."

"What things?"

He rose from his chair and, for a moment, looked toward the maps covering the wall, then toward the window, and finally back to Eira.

"Either everything is about to become much easier."

A brief pause followed before Maelin finished the thought.

"Or much more complicated."

For reasons she could not explain, Eira suspected that neither answer would leave her life unchanged.

The house changed after that, though not dramatically or in any way an outsider might immediately notice. Yet once Eira became aware of it, she found herself seeing the signs everywhere.

The long room gradually emptied as people returned to their various duties. Finn gathered his ledgers and disappeared upstairs, while Aldric left soon afterward, summoned by matters that had suddenly become more urgent than they had been an hour earlier.

Only Lyra seemed entirely unaffected, although that lasted for approximately seven minutes before even she sensed that something was happening.

"What do you think he wants?"

Eira looked up.

"Who?"

"Leander."

The answer came as though no other explanation could possibly be necessary.

Lyra leaned forward.

"Maybe he's coming because someone stole something."

Finn, who had returned briefly after forgetting a ledger, sighed.

"No."

"Maybe he's coming because there's a war."

"No."

"Maybe—"