Dear Mother and Father,
I am sorry this letter took so long. The caravan reached the town safely, and I started work the next morning. The place is larger than I expected, so there has been a great deal to learn.
Evan paused with the pen above the page.
The small table in his Undercity room tilted to one side. He folded a scrap of paper twice and pushed it beneath the shortest leg to stop the wobble even though it didn't level out the table. The candle beside him had been burned down to a finger's width.
Outside his door, someone ran along the corridor shouting that a party needed a healer. Varka shouted back that healers slept at night and foolish people should learn to bleed during business hours.
Evan smiled and continued writing.
