[Day 19 — Morning — South District]
Heren lived in a small house at the end of an alley that Kira's map indicated as "accessible if you know how to look."
The door was open.
Kira knocked before entering because in Veltharr, an open door could mean either welcome or trap, and she preferred to confirm.
A voice from inside. "Come in."
---
Heren was seventy at minimum. Probably more.
His eyes didn't focus well — not complete blindness, but the specific way the eyes of someone who saw something their brain never finished processing remain slightly offset from what they're looking at.
Alex noticed it as soon as they entered.
The room was small. One table. Four chairs. A window covered with thick fabric because Heren clearly preferred controlled darkness to variable light.
Kira had made the contact. Alex went because it was his information that mattered. Grim went because Grim always went.
Heren looked at them.
He stopped on Grim.
The unfocused eyes focused for the first time.
