Deliberation

Vivi set the bread back on the tray. "Not yet. For now, all we can do is wait for the Confederation Technical Group's chemical analysis report and the Eye of the Sand's next signal. There won't be much else to do in the meantime."

Harry rested a hand on Vivi's shoulder. "Then let's get some rest."

Vivi turned her head and glanced at him. "You need rest too. You used quite a bit of magic at Node Seven. You may not feel it yourself, but your recovery has been slower than usual since last night."

She leaned back into the sofa, resting against Harry's shoulder.

Pabbie stood, collected the empty plates, and headed for the Kitchen.

Harry sat on the sofa while Vivi leaned against his shoulder, her breathing steady and even.

Toward evening, the sound of owl wings fluttering came from the Entrance hall.

Harry rose from the sofa and walked into the Entrance hall. A dark gray owl was perched atop the coat rack, an envelope tied to its claw.

He untied the envelope. The owl shook its wings and flew out through the open window.

The seal bore the Confederation's silver-white emblem, slightly smaller than the one on Ms. Rosier's envelope, with finer silver lines around the edge.

He returned to the Living Room, sat beside the coffee table, and opened the envelope. The letter was in Kingsley's handwriting, a little neater than the previous one, though the spacing between the letters was still uneven, as though it had been written in haste.

"Ms. Grindelwald:

The Confederation Technical Group has completed the first stage of its retrospective analysis of monitoring data from the eastern bank of the Jordan Valley two years ago. Sixty-eight sets of original waveform data were retrieved, four of which do not match any