[CRussel]

Snippet:

She had sent the master trader a note, desiring to know what he would like her to do for him.

The answer to that note had just come back.

Take the afternoon off.

Padi closed her eyes.

Really, it was unprecedented. Perhaps her eyesight was suffering under the assault of too much cake.

She opened her eyes.

There on the screen, the master trader's message, wonderfully brief.
Take the afternoon off.

One did not write to master traders and ask if they were feeling quite themselves. One assumed that the master trader understood the meaning of his words.