The man broke eye contact with Aestrith and came around to Beorn. Whatever had been in his expression while he studied her was gone by the time he turned.
"My apologies for the interruption, my lord."
His voice was warm. The warmth had been trained into something smooth.
He touched his chest briefly. "Wulfric. I manage certain interests of Mr. Coss's in the city. He wanted you welcomed properly before the evening got too far along."
He had said it many times. The phrasing had worn smooth from use.
Behind the desk, Eadric had gone completely still. Both hands rested flat against the surface. The composure from earlier was gone.
The two men who had come in with Wulfric remained near the door. One to the left of the frame. The other slightly forward and right. Their eyes stayed loose. Their hands easy.
Beorn picked up the quill. "Good of him to think of it."
Wulfric crossed to the center of the room without hurrying.
"Mr. Coss has always prioritized courtesy toward incoming representatives. He holds considerable respect for the crown's role here."
He noticed the occupied chair and remained standing.
"He asked me to say, personally, that Ashmark's door is open to you. Whatever you require while you establish your position."
"That's generous." Beorn kept his attention on the man, engaged but neutral. "How long has Mr. Coss been based here?"
Something passed through Wulfric's expression.
"Roughly twenty years. Possibly a little longer."
"Long time."
"It is. He arrived when the territory lacked most functional infrastructure. The mines, the supply routes, the warehouse systems you see now, those were built over time."
A note of pride entered his voice.
"The city was significantly less developed when he began."
Beorn considered that. "The roads to the mines. He constructed those?"
"The primary ones, yes. Along with labor structuring, tool distribution, and drainage for the eastern shafts."
He opened one hand between them.
"It's the type of infrastructure that goes unnoticed when functioning properly. It becomes visible only when it fails."
"Which makes it difficult to replace if disrupted."
"Indeed."
His voice leveled again. "He's consistently found that cooperation yields better results than disruption. Stable systems remain stable, and that benefits all parties. He's communicated that principle to each incoming representative, and the outcomes have supported it."
He let the words hang there. The conclusion belonged to the listener.
Beorn opened the ledger again and turned a page. The fire in the hearth crackled softly. One of the men near the door adjusted his footing.
"The warehouse operations," Beorn said. "In the north district. How long have those been active?"
Wulfric paused.
The warmth remained. The ease beneath it was thinning.
"Approximately eight years. It handles tools and food distribution across the city and its dependent settlements efficiently."
"And pricing is controlled centrally?"
"Through Mr. Coss's trading office, yes. Standardized pricing reduces volatility and prevents local instability."
He held Beorn's gaze directly now, watching for something.
"It works because the people in it understand how. New arrivals sometimes need time to recognize the logic before they accept its value."
"I see."
Beorn added a note in the margin without breaking the exchange.
Across the room, Aestrith remained by the window. Her body faced outward. The darkened glass had gone reflective.
Wulfric glanced toward her. He had passed over it once already.
"Your companion. I don't believe she was introduced."
"No."
He waited.
Beorn added nothing.
Three seconds passed before Wulfric moved on.
"In any case, Mr. Coss asked me to emphasize that the transition period can be challenging. New representatives sometimes arrive with objectives that exceed local constraints."
A brief pause.
"He's always willing to provide guidance during that phase. His familiarity with the Badlands is extensive, and his relationships are established. Better to understand the territory through someone who already knows it than through trial and error."
"I appreciate that."
Wulfric held his gaze another moment. Beorn returned the same polite attention.
"Well. I won't take more of your evening. You clearly have matters to organize."
He nodded toward the ledger.
"I expect we'll speak again soon."
"I would expect that."
Wulfric gave a brief farewell nod and moved toward the exit. The man on the left opened the door.
A draft rolled in from the corridor, cold and carrying the smell of old stone.
The man on the right stepped through first. Wulfric followed. The last man pulled the door shut behind them.
Beorn looked down at the ledger.
Twenty years. Long enough to own everything that mattered in a place this size.
Aestrith had told him about the mines and the crews on the road. He had seen the warehouse watchers pull back a beat early. Idle miners with maintained tools. Ald's operation in the north district.
Every piece fit together from every direction.
Three prior representatives.
Wulfric hadn't needed to spell out what had happened to them. The framing had done it for him.
Stable systems remain stable. Everyone benefits. Come into it or don't.
He was the fourth.
Beorn turned to Eadric.
Eadric sat with both hands flat on the desk. Something behind his face had gone very still.
"The inventory. We do it tonight."
"Yes, my lord."
The response was precise, stripped down to compliance.
Beorn stood and tucked the ledger under his arm. Aestrith left the window and followed.
They entered the corridor.
The worn stone of the working section ended within a few steps. The floor turned rough beneath their boots, gritty with dust that hadn't been disturbed in months. The sconces along this stretch were dark. The temperature dropped.
The air smelled of closed stone and old timber.
The building stretched on ahead of them, long and quiet. Somewhere farther down, a shutter shifted in a draft. Wood tapped once against the frame, then stilled.
Beorn wanted to know what was in here before he slept in it.
"Friendly folk," Aestrith said.
He kept walking.
His thoughts returned to where Wulfric's attention had lingered longest. At the window.
The visit had begun with her and ended with her.
The courtesy had been the cover.