Morning finished rising over Miri Town, and the workroom finally surrendered.
Sunlight fell through the hole in Naomi's roof in one honest golden column, dust still turning lazily inside it, and beneath that accidental skylight, an alchemist family was coming apart at the seams.
Naomi sat on her bench with her apron strings undone and her hands open in her lap, too spent to pretend otherwise. Gideon had sunk into the room's only armchair, notebook against his chest like a sleeping infant.
Aurora was the best off, thanks to her being higher level than her parents, but she still leaned against the center bench with her platinum hair escaping its tie one strand at a time, and even her posture, usually the straightest in any room, had filed for a leave of absence.
Quinlan stood among them, his vitality already returning, skin going from pale parchment to healthy.
He inclined his head to Naomi and Gideon both.
