BURNED EMPIRE
Ruth had made a cake too, lopsided and covered in more frosting than the recipe probably called for, and Cora insisted on cutting the first slice herself, tongue poking out in concentration while she sawed through it with a butter knife twice her size.
"Careful," Camilla said, laughing for what felt like the first time in days.
"I'm being careful," Cora announced, holding up a slice that looked nothing like a proper slice at all. Nobody cared. We ate it anyway, all four of us crowded around the small kitchen table, and for one evening the war outside those walls stayed exactly where it belonged.
"Can we go home now?" Cora asked, halfway through dinner. "The real home. Not this one, not the o