And a junior priestess scuttles in, looking chastened. 

"Er, yes, hello. Thank you for waiting. The Lady can be - Brusque, at times." 

"It's alright. She has many demands on her time." 

Rose looks over at Ember. "Do you feel well enough to walk?"

Ember touches her unscarred face with her five-fingered hand.

She's doubly unused to this. 

"... I believe so," she says, her voice carefully neutral.

Ember smiles. "Are you hungry at all?"

"A little."

In truth she's starving. They've been waiting over lunch.

Rose reaches into her purse and pulls out a crisp apple. 

"Here," she says. "Eat this."

She knows a challenge when she hears one.

Ember takes the apple and scowls at Rose. Then she takes a big, sharp bite. 

... There's absolutely no pain. 

What.

Rose looks at Ember's face, then back at the junior priestess. 

"Is there a quiet place nearby where we could take some time to ourselves?"

"You can have the room for another fifteen minutes, but there's no parks in Ascendant Court. I would head to the Ivy District."

So far, so unhelpful.

"Thank you." 

Rose stands and looks at Ember. "Let's go together."

Ember nods and stands, still holding the apple. 

She takes another testing bite. 

Still no pain. 

Something, some emotion, squirms deep beneath her skin. She forces it down. This is neither the time nor the place. 

She'll hold together until she's somewhere safe and then she'll fall apart completely. Rose recognizes the signs. 

"Let's go back to my apartment and pick up food on the way," Rose says. "We'll eat when we get there."

"That seems reasonable."

Rose leads her out into the city. They pass through Ascendant Court and into the Coins, stopping by a street vendor to pick up a large piece of roasted goat, served with leavened bread with honey and hard cheese. Rose carries the food, leaving Ember to worry at her apple. 

Eventually they arrive at the steps of Rose's apartment again, and Rose ushers Ember into her rooms. 

She goes through the bagful of food and lays it out on the kitchen table on her own plates, offering cheese, goat and bread alike for Ember.

"Here," she says. "You must be starving. I know I am."

She'll rise to this challenge too. 

She takes a seat. 

She takes a moment to consider the food. It smells amazing, full of herbs she barely knows.

Frippery, says an old part of her. Worthless.

... She can just eat this. 

She can just eat this.

Rose just watches, and doesn't push.

She cuts a small slice off the end of the slab of roasted goat. 

She spears it with her fork.

She eats. 

It's absolutely delicious. Better than the berries Kumi fed her. Better than anything she's ever tasted before. 

It is so, so hard not to break down and cry in front of Rose.

"It's okay," Rose says softly. "I know it's a lot."

She doesn't know how to handle this. Nobody ever taught her how to handle - kindness. 

That's what this is. Kindness. She has the word now, from her work with translation. 

The foreigners are... on to something.

"... I need some time to think." 

"... to cry, you mean."

"... Yes."

"You can cry on me if you want to. It's okay to be alone, but - I heard that Kumi petted your hair, and I wanted to - offer you that option."