Okay, so it's the worst, but it's also not THE worst, as she finally has time to garden and also she can write self-pitying letters to Raubahn while trying to convince him they're pen-pals now. That lasts about five days before she gets into politics, because no one else can do anything right.
![A watercolor illustration of a foggy, rocky beach. Squiggly, worm-like black lines rise from the ocean. A man dressed in red robes stands facing the beach with his arms outstretched.
Text is overlaid that says:
Six widow-wires rose from the beach like garden eels on the sea floor. Wiggling, waving, lashing out to whip at the boulders. Searching for prey. Stefek bunched his limbs into a ball as the one behind him's shadow danced across the orange algae.
[…]
The wires straightened with a snap, half a dozen perfect lines drawn in the fog. They hissed as Lucanus whispered inaudible words. Then all at once, they collapsed, and the waves began to pull the five spirals out to sea—a crab claimed the sixth in its pincers.
Lucanus unburied his feet and smiled. "There. See? I'm nothing to worry about."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:npf44ir4cptkt4u3kccc3u4n/bafkreibtimoqdv7atjysj57jmdzcy5x7xf64gzg65lp3yw464lp3ulhynm)
