Balthazar had put the payment schedule on top.
Lyra appreciated the tactic before she disliked it.
The first deposit would cover immediate food, some overdue wages and treatment already delayed while the household disputed responsibility. Further installments would support a private compensation account. The settlement also promised protection for the cottages and her uncle’s support for restoring her rank under an agreed succession path.
Her independent adviser read the second page while she checked the figures.
“This amount is available now?” she asked.
“On agreement,” Balthazar said.
He sat opposite her in a quiet negotiating room, wearing a plain coat rather than the one he had chosen for the welcome. Two account references lay beside his cup.
“Where from?”
