By evening, Saina had used that thin copper pot to cook a huge pot of bean and meat soup. Su Li had haggled for the beans at Green Ferry, while Elena had traded for the strips of cured meat from a merchant caravan along the road.
The soup was murky and unappetizing to look at, but it smelled just right.
The four of them sat around a stone table in the yard.
Holding her bowl, Elena pushed aside the beans with her spoon and sipped the broth little by little. Her expression hovered somewhere between forcing herself and enduring it.
Elonore held her bowl and drank with her head lowered, slurping loudly. Once she had drained one bowl, she went for a second. After draining the second, she reached for the ladle again.
Saina smacked the back of her hand. "Eat slower. You look like a starving ghost reincarnated."
Elonore pulled back her hand and sat properly, obediently.
After scolding her, Saina picked up the ladle and served her another half bowl, piled so high it nearly overflowed.
"Last half bowl. There won't be any more after this."
Elonore accepted the bowl with both hands and lowered her head to drink. Her long silver hair fell down, hiding half her face.
Su Li leaned against the stone bench, turning an empty bowl in his hand as he looked at the four people around the table.
Saina was tidying up the pot and stove, Elena was wiping the chopsticks, and Elonore was drinking that last half bowl of soup.
Four people, one table, one pot.
In their previous life, it had taken them three years to gather this scene together. In this life, it had all fallen into place in less than a few months.
He set down his bowl and