Several days passed after Seran and Aurelia arrived in the village.
Lucien had expected questions. He had expected suspicion too.
Instead, the two of them settled in far more easily than he imagined.
Seran helped wherever someone pointed him.
One morning he was carrying timber with Tavian. By afternoon he had somehow joined a group repairing a damaged shed, despite admitting that he knew almost nothing about carpentry.
He compensated for the lack of experience by learning quickly and talking enough that the older men eventually stopped treating him like a stranger.
Aurelia adapted in a quieter way.
She helped Cienna sort herbs, assisted Mirelle with records whenever there were numbers to organize, and occasionally entertained the younger children by reading their palms with a seriousness that made them believe every word.
Lucien caught her doing it once.
She had been holding a little girl's hand while staring solemnly at the lines across her palm.
