The tiny carved figure remained standing on the invisible stones between the two civilizations, motionless, patient, waiting in a posture that suggested nothing urgent at all.
Neither side moved. No alarms sounded through the Branch's monitoring systems. No surge of energy registered on any of Kael's instruments. The figure simply stood there, small and unhurried, in a stance that Sarya recognized, watching it, as something closer to politeness than caution — the bearing of someone arriving at another person's doorway and waiting, patiently, to be invited further inside rather than presuming to enter uninvited.
Everyone gathered at the Branch watched through the exterior feeds in silence. No one dared interrupt whatever quiet negotiation was occurring, even if none of them could have said exactly what was being negotiated.
"It knows the oldest rule," the gardener said quietly.
"What rule?" Sarya asked.
"No bridge is crossed without permission."
---
