Pāhonoa te oro

*A month had passed. The seasons had begun their subtle shift in Farland, the air growing slightly cooler, carrying the dry, mineral scent of the desert that surrounded the city-state. Inside the Eldritch Vein Gems shop, time had moved in a strange, suspended way.* *The fragile, exhausted peace had hardened into a new, brittle routine. Ethan and Jane were no longer partners, not even allies of convenience. They were co-conspirators in a performance, directors of a play where every line and gest