The midday bread came in a basket at the second bell, and Liss counted it into seven piles before anyone was allowed to touch it. Calen watched her do it from the pump. She did not hurry, and she did not look at him.
When she finished she said the number, and it was right, and she said it again to be sure.
Kade did not come to the table. He had been on the lodging step since the morning lesson, with his shirt pulled down and his arm pressed to his side. Calen had sent a pile of bread to him anyway.
It sat on the step beside him, untouched, under a damp cloth.
“He will eat when he is hungry,” Hesper said, from the bench. “Or he will not eat, which is also a way of being hungry.”
“Is that a question?” Ysra asked her.
“It is an answer,” Hesper said. “You may write it down.”
Ysra did not write it down. She ate her bread, and she watched the step. Dorran ate his too quickly and said sorry to the crust.
