Shortly before midnight, Daro Kesh and Mina climbed up from the lower hospice cave at Seyun’s request and joined him and Nara Soth beside the lantern in the western nook of the seal court. Down in the limestone caves, all twelve rescued testers were sleeping securely. Senn’s channel brace had been adjusted for the night, Halin and Pera had copied the self-owned breathing pause diagrams onto coarse paper for the recuperating recruits. Hall Mistress Soran had taken the midnight watch on the upper ridge spur.
Seyun laid Master Uren’s grey stone tablet on the flat granite crate beside the grease-lamp. The silver-inlaid diagram of the three return places glinted softly in the yellow light.
“At the Hollow Summit,” Seyun said to Daro and Mina, “Nara and I swore the third mark over whether this tablet and the Answering Spirit vein should survive or be destroyed so no future institution can repeat the Counterpoise Sect’s and the Aperture Court’s coercion. We agreed to postpone the contest only until no hostage’s or dependent patient’s life hung on the outcome.”
“All twelve testers are off the wires,” Mina said. She looked sharply from her brother’s bandaged ribs to Nara’s scarred face. “And they already have the written pause exercises they need for their daily care. Why hold a martial contest over the stone two hours before dawn when the sky-ring is still turning above the ridge?”
