Vesna Thorne was at the kitchen door before the first bell on Day 120, with her satchel on her shoulder and her chin still wrapped in cloth.
“I have decided, sir,” she said.
“Yes?”
“I will stay, if the Board lets me.” She lifted her chin. “I did not sleep much. I sat up with the sand ring in my head, and the girl’s foot on my knee. It was not a bad dream.”
Calen nodded. He did not tell her that she had decided well. Her face had already told him that, and she would not have wanted to hear it said.
In the passage, Joss walked beside Hetta with her blanket left behind for once. Her cough had gone quiet in the night.
“Will they say yes?” Joss asked.
“They will say what the form says,” said Hetta.
