They walked back to the rooming house, and Bruce spent the remaining morning hours making a few small, practical preparations.
He went through his ring and organized its contents. The three books he had purchased from the Library were due to arrive today or tomorrow, so he wanted to make sure he had enough space for them and that everything was arranged sensibly.
He laid his current belongings across the small table: the basic soul-script manual, Yolen's essay, the theory-of-talents book, the lecture manuscript, his stylus and stack of soul-paper, and the sponsorship paper, now empty but retained as a record. Beside them, he placed his butchering tools, frame and hooks, along with the small supply of soul-seal paste the quiet bookseller had included as a courtesy with his last purchase.
Once everything was laid out, he began putting it back.
