Chapter 232 — The Space Between Visits

By the time Nia reached the kitchen, Shen had already started breakfast.

He stood at the rear counter with his long white hair gathered over one shoulder, cutting greens into narrow strips. Stone grain simmered beside him, and browned bird and garlic scented the main chamber. Nia came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek between his shoulder blades until he put the knife down.

“You left without waking me,” she said.

“You were sleeping comfortably.” He turned in her arms and kissed her. “There are greens to wash if you want to help. Kael has already come looking for food twice.”

“What did he take?”

“A piece of cold bird. Then he returned to ask whether the grain was ready, although he could see the lid was still on the pot.”

Nia laughed. Shen fastened the loose tie at the front of her sleeping wrap, and she caught his sleeve for another kiss before he returned to the hearth. The grain had begun bubbling heavily, leaving pale starch along the inside of the pot.

The expanded kitchen gave them room to work without moving around each other at every turn. They still tended to share the same stretch of counter. Nia washed the greens and shook the water from them while Shen stirred the grain, scraping the thickening layer from the bottom.

“Leave some for midday broth,” he told her when she carried the greens over. “I don't think we'll need the whole bundle now.”

She laid a portion aside. A bowl near his elbow held the bird divided into dark, crisp-edged pieces and a milder portion with less seasoning. Shen tipped the greens into the pan, letting them wilt in a little bird fat rather than adding water.

“You've changed that from last time,” Nia said.

“The leaves put out more water than I expected. I thought I'd try keeping the pan hotter and leaving them alone at first.” He turned them once, then let her taste a piece when it cooled. “Is that closer?”

“The texture is better. You can still feel the leaves, and the bird flavor came through.” She reached for one more piece, but he was already moving the pan away from the hottest part of the hearth.

“Save your appetite. I made enough grain for all three of us, provided Kael doesn't come back before I fill the bowls.”

Kael appeared in the passage a moment later, his dark curls damp around the temples. There was grit on one forearm, and the hem of his outer wrap bore a streak of pale dust. He kissed Nia when she turned toward him, resting a hand at her waist as she rubbed the grit with her thumb.

“Were you working on the upper path?” she asked.

“Someone put gravel against the runoff cut. I moved the first section while the crew brought tools.”

“After all that work keeping it clear?” Nia rubbed a little more grit from his arm. “Go wash before you touch the food.”

He glanced at the pan, then went toward the bath passage. Shen waited until he was out of sight before portioning the darker bird onto Kael's grain. Nia set three bowls on the table and brought over the greens. She caught herself imagining Ren at the meal, interested in Shen's new method and almost certain to make some remark about whether he could sell the result along his eastern routes.

Kael returned, and they ate together. He drew Nia onto his lap after she took her bowl, leaving her free to reach the shared dishes. Between mouthfuls, he described the upper turn. A worker who knew the drainage rules had spread leftover gravel across a dry-looking dip, only to send part of it into the channel when water ran down the slope.

“He thought the ground had dried enough that it wouldn't matter,” Kael said.

“After spring rain has been coming through there all season?” Nia asked. “I hope he was the one you sent back to clear it.”

“He is. With two others to make sure the cut is open before the next rain.”

Shen asked whether the work had disturbed the lower herb path. It hadn't. Kael gave them the parts of the route still open to foot traffic, then reached for the last of the browned bird. Shen moved the reserved dish out of his way and reminded him that their evening meal still needed something to go with the grain.

Later that morning, Nia accompanied Shen to the lower work district. They had clean cloths to return and wanted to see whether Mari's wider red strips stayed properly on the drying screens.

The passages were busy. Two men carried trimmed wood to a repair room, and a woman at an open storage alcove argued with her husband over a length of tying cord. He had brought her one long enough for a winter cover when she needed something for a small bundle. She made him hold the bundle while she searched for a shorter piece herself.

Near the work passage, a cart stood with one wheel exposed. Shen guided Nia around it, his hand resting briefly against her back. The outer pin was loose, but its owner was coming from the repair room with a replacement. Shen asked whether he needed anyone to hold the wheel steady. The man said his brother was inside fetching a wedge and thanked him for offering.

Mari had two drying screens raised on supports. The newer red strips lay across several strands of weave instead of dropping between them as the thin cuts had. Nia bent to look at the pieces nearest the warm wall while one of the workers lifted a curled strip from the corner.

“That tray was too close,” Mari said, before Nia could ask. “We moved it after the edge started curling, so I'm not counting it with the rest.”

“Are you turning the others?” Nia asked.

“Half. The rest I'm leaving until tomorrow. If we're going to keep lifting them, I want to know whether it helps or only makes more work.”

Nia helped sort the uneven ends from the usable cuts. Shen examined a damp patch collecting beneath one of the rear supports and helped a worker shift the frame so air could move underneath. There was still no conclusion about the best drying method, but the wider pieces no longer caught so badly in the screen.

A man arrived carrying narrow ties from Mari's husband. Mari directed him toward the worker who needed them, then returned to counting the drying strips.

They left when the trays had been arranged for the comparison. On the path upward, Nia loosened the fastening at her neck as the air grew warmer. Two men carrying a long timber came around the turn, and she stepped beside Shen to let them pass.

One of them recognized her. “Has the fox merchant said when he's coming back? There might be another eastern crossing, and I wanted to ask whether he'd heard about it.”

“He's still away on business,” Nia answered. “I don't know when he'll return.”

Shen suggested asking at the trade shelter, where someone might have newer route news. The man thanked them, adjusted his grip on the timber, and continued downhill. Nia resumed the climb beside Shen, wishing she had an answer to the first part of his question.

At home, the chamber was quiet. Kael hadn't returned, and a pot of water was heating near the rear hearth. Nia put away the cloths they had collected, then checked the grain left from breakfast. Shen came out of storage carrying a shallow bowl of dried sweet fruit and placed it near her hand before sorting herbs into smaller containers.

“Do you think Ren has reached the eastern meeting ground?” she asked as she wiped the counter.

“If the weather held, perhaps. His workers know that route, and he rarely spends longer on it than necessary unless there is business waiting.”

Nia nodded. She checked the cooler shelf while Shen tied one of the containers shut. The unopened goldheart still rested with its tight stem intact.

“Kael hasn't persuaded you to open this?” she asked.

“He asked what we were keeping it for. I told him we hadn't decided, and he found something else to eat.”

“He's been very patient with it.”

“By his standards.”

She laughed, closed the shelf, and returned to the counter. Shen was writing a small mark on the last herb container when she spoke again.

“Do you miss people when they're away, even when you know they're coming back? Not because you're worried. Just because something happens and you'd like to tell them.”

“Yes.” He set down the marking tool. “Kael sometimes spends a long day on territory business, and I find myself saving some small thing until supper. It's happened with Ren too. We used to meet after his longer trade stretches. He always came back with complaints about sellers that were more entertaining than the goods he'd bought.”

“Tell me one.”

Shen smiled, picking up the fruit bowl and offering her another piece. “A man once wanted twice the usual price for dried herbs because he'd gathered them under a particular moon. Ren asked whether the moon had helped dry them. The man was offended enough to refuse the sale, which suited Ren. The herbs weren't worth the ordinary price either.”

Nia laughed and took the fruit. She could picture Ren listening to the seller with his habitual smirk, waiting until the man had finished explaining a price he had no intention of paying. Shen had known that side of him for years. She hoped he would tell her more of those stories.

Shen gathered the remaining containers. Nia helped him carry them into storage, then returned to the counter with him. When he brushed a loose curl away from her cheek, she caught his hand and kissed his palm. He leaned down to kiss her, and she drew him closer by the shoulders until the water beside the hearth began to simmer loudly.

“Would you like a bath before Kael comes home?” he asked.

“With you?”

“Yes.”

“Then come on. We can finish deciding what to eat afterward.”

Kael returned near evening to find Nia sitting sideways on a low seat in the main chamber, one bare foot resting on the cool floor. Shen had brought out a folded stack of clean household cloths, but Nia had claimed the broadest wrap for herself and draped it across her lap. He sat beside her sorting the rest according to where they belonged.

Kael's shoulders had loosened by the time he crossed the room, though dust still marked the hem of his tunic. Nia stood to kiss him. He rested a hand against her back and kept her close until Shen took the folded work cloth from beneath his arm and put it with the other things that needed washing.

“Did the men finish at the lower turn?” Nia asked.

“They did. And I ate with them before you ask.”

“I was going to ask what you wanted for supper.”

“Bird,” he said, and Nia looked toward Shen, who had already set aside the portion left from breakfast.

“We can have that with the remaining grain,” Shen said. “I'd rather not leave either another night. There are greens for the pan too.”

Kael went to wash. When he returned, Nia had moved the stack of clean cloths to one end of the seat. She drew him down beside her, fitting herself against his side while Shen finished folding the last wrap. Kael settled an arm around her, and she tucked her feet beneath the edge of the cloth across her lap.

“Someone was trying to tie a little bundle with cord meant for a winter cover today,” Nia told him. “His wife made him hold everything while she found the right length herself.”

Kael looked at the narrow ties Shen was rolling into a small coil. “Did the bundle need carrying?”

“No, it was going onto a shelf. She was trying to keep the contents together.”

“Then he could have cut the cord.”

“She wanted the long piece kept whole. She told him that before he brought it.”

Kael made a sound of recognition. Nia continued telling him about the passage and the cart owner repairing his wheel. Shen added that the man had already found the right replacement pin. They talked until the first warmth of the evening hearth reached the seat, and then their conversation wandered to the old wraps Shen had set aside for washing and which ones had finally worn too thin to mend.

Kael drew the edge of Nia's cloth over her uncovered ankle when a cooler draft moved through the chamber. She leaned closer, resting a hand against his chest. Shen set down the last folded wrap and came around the seat to sit on her other side, his knee touching hers.

“Are you hungry yet?” he asked.

“Getting there. I haven't decided whether I want to get up.”

“The grain won't heat itself.” Shen brushed his fingers over her hand, but made no move to stand either.

Nia smiled and stayed where she was a little longer, with Kael's arm warm around her and Shen close enough that she could rest her shoulder against his.