The Board sat at first light, in the Keep’s long hall, with the shutters thrown open and the grey morning coming in across the floor.
Someone had moved the benches. They had been pushed back against the north wall, and a table had been brought in from the kitchen and set on a low dais, with three chairs behind it in dark wood.
Silverspire had sent its own chair, carved with a silver emblem on the back. It had been set to the right of the Board’s centre seat, and it was empty when Calen came in.
Calloway was not in it yet. He was standing by the window with his hands clasped behind his back, looking out at the yard as if he already owned it.
The Minister came in at the bell.
Benedek Ashdale was a heavy man with soft hands and a face that looked kindly on people it had not yet decided about. He wore a grey coat with the Ministry’s silver braid across the chest.
He took the centre chair without looking at it, and he nodded to the clerk, and then he looked down the length of the hall at Calen, and his smile came on slowly.
