"Don't attend," I said.
Seraphina looked up from the clinic roster.
I had planned a more careful opening. The words had apparently reached the room before the plan.
"The blessing?"
"Yes. Let someone else take your place."
Maelis kept writing at the next table. I couldn't decide whether her silence meant she agreed or wanted to hear how far I would get before Seraphina stopped me.
Not far.
"Who?" Seraphina asked.
"Another qualified healer."
"Name one who isn't already assigned."
I put Nyx's sketch on the table instead.
The folded corner caught under the roster. I freed it with my left hand while Seraphina moved her papers aside. She hadn't dismissed me. She had asked for the person who would have to take on the work I wanted her to leave.
I could have gone back to arguing that her safety mattered more. It wouldn't have supplied a name.
"We looked at this today," I said. "With the officer. It's the current arrangement."
