The morning sun had barely cleared the red clay tiles of the courtyard wall when Kaelen slid a slip of parchment across the low table.
Alchemist Linnea blinked at the paper, then up at him. She still wore her dark green Guild robes, though the hem was clean and her eyes were bright after three full nights of proper sleep. The dark fire-poison veins on her neck had faded to faint grey smudges under her collar.
“A task board errand?” she asked, her voice cautious. “You want me to run to the Grand Cauldron Hall and pull an active notice for you?”
“Not just any notice,” Kaelen said, taking a slow sip of warm red-leaf tea as he leaned back against his embroidered wool cushion after a second peaceful night under the courtyard’s plum trees. “Look for something down in the southern canyon, specifically near the Sunken Cinnabar Mine.”
Linnea tilted her head. “Are you taking a private commission? Vice-President Harlan said you earned a full month of unrestricted rest in the guild courtyards, and most new Silver Badges spend their first ten days sleeping or receiving congratulatory banquets from the merchant elders.”
“Sleeping in one courtyard gets boring after two nights,” Kaelen said smoothly. “A change of scenery is good for the liver.”
