The wagon was half loaded by the evening bell.
Nell could see it from the kitchen window. It sat by the gate with its canvas tied down and its wheels chocked with stones. Its shadow lay long across the yard.
Nell did not go to look at it. She had seen enough of the Ministry’s wagons. They did not change how a breath went in or out.
She went to the yard instead, where the cold was sharper than in the kitchen. Her hands were tucked in her sleeves.
She had a rule about her hands in the evening. They stayed in her sleeves until she was asked to use them, and she was not asked tonight, so she kept them there.
Inside the kitchen the class was packing what little it had. Kade had written a list on the back of the bread sheet and was reading it aloud to nobody. Iron Duke. Duke of the Sands. Duke of the Sunspire Lodge.
Hesper, at the table, asked him what a duke did with a list. Kade said she would find out when she was worth telling. Hesper asked whether that was the same as never.
Liss copied the bread count under her breath. Ysra wrote on a small sheet in her neat hand and folded it twice. Nobody looked at Nell when she passed through. She liked that.
