The Silverspire runner came up the cart track at the second bell, while the yard was full of drill.
Calen heard the hooves before he saw the horse. The horse came at a steady trot.
It did not hurry, and it did not slow down for the gate. Ear waited until the rider had said his name twice before he lifted the bar.
The gate count had been read before the bread. Ear had called all seven names, and all seven had answered.
Kade’s answer had come a breath late. Calen had heard it, and he had said nothing, because Kade had not been wrong.
The seven were in pairs by the trough. The morning drill had been done with wooden staves, not steel. The staves knocked on the flags with a flat, dull sound, and every count was said aloud, the way the first rule asked.
Tobin counted his strikes one word at a time, as he named things. Liss copied each count a half beat late. Ysra counted hers in a clerk’s voice, and nobody could tell from it whether she was winning.
Hoff’s guard stood at the rack with his arms folded. That was the rule, and Calen had made sure of it since the night in the guardroom.
