The desk had started as a place to work.
By mid-evening, it had become a monument of the work itself.
Twelve sheets in Heinrich's hand lay in steady towers. Four more carried Beorn's notes crowded into the margins. A cup had been refilled twice and forgotten both times. One candle had burned down completely and been replaced. The second had already lost more than a quarter of its length.
Heinrich held the current page closer to the flame, reading through it with methodical focus.
Eventually, a nod, "The foundry output schedule, distribution priority tiers, and the licensing conditions through the third quarter."
He lowered the sheet.
"The price issue is where we stopped."
Beorn didn't look up. His quill continued moving across the page.
"Then that is where we start."
