They rode home in a low, tense quiet, each turning possibilities over like knives. Krovanis and Asmeryn sketched angles and traps between them, how to force Renny's hand, how to make him surrender the Ezra fruit without giving him any clean way out. Entering the garden alone had been a risk they could not repeat; if Renny smelled a set-up, he'd turn it on them, and it would be their end. The idea, then, was to craft a corner he could not sidestep, a scenario with pressure like Leila's, a choice with no honourable escape.
It was late. They agreed to sleep on the scheme and refine it in the morning.
But Krovanis could not let the matter rest, not for Leila's sake, not for his pride. If he could not avenge what had been done, he could at least punish, deny Renny the grade he chased. If Renny failed to complete his contract by July, the promotion window would slam shut, and he'd be forced to repeat. Make him sick, break him, render him unable to perform, force him to fail.
