Petricia glanced toward the receiving buildings beyond the garden.
"There are people arriving who don't know where to sleep, where their family was taken, or whom they can ask without being sent somewhere else. I can help with that. I know how things work here."
"You want to organize the arrivals?" Alex asked.
"I want to choose some of my work. I can't take responsibility for those people if everyone assumes I am always the person staying with Luna."
A wooden block fell behind them.
Luna looked up, waiting to see whether the adults had heard.
Mingyue lifted a hand to show that they had. She did not call Petricia back to rebuild it.
"We'll arrange her care with you," Mingyue said. "We won't announce that we need you and leave before you can answer."
"And when you both need to go?"
"We tell you what we know, ask whether you can stay, and find someone she knows if you can't," Alex said. "We don't make another promise about returning until we know what we're promising."
