Mera returned to the council room before the morning bell, carrying her grandmother’s receipt in a cloth pouch and a small account book she had borrowed from the guild office years ago. Her son Tavin walked beside her, keeping one hand over the pouch as though the paper might blow away indoors.
The council table had been cleared of the previous day’s contract copies. Ning set a clean sheet in front of Mera and another in front of the guild agent, Ke. Qinghe sat by the window with a lens and a lamp. Yan took a place at the end of the table, where he could hear without occupying the seat reserved for the growers.
Mera laid out the receipt first. “This says the seed loan was paid in full after the flood harvest. The account book has the same date, but it says there was still a balance.”
Ke did not reach for either paper. “The book is the guild’s official record. A private receipt may describe a payment without closing the account.”
Tavin’s hand tightened over the pouch. “My grandmother kept it because the clerk refused to mark the balance paid. She said she would not let the paper go until he wrote the amount down.”
