Sect Year 3 · fifth month · day 8 · Azure Stream Sect, the east gate at dusk
Light went up the gate tower one lantern at a time, starting from the south corner, so that it ran along the wall like a count being read aloud. By the time the last one caught, the sky over the Qingliu flats had gone the colour of old pewter. The road below the gate had gone dark except for the cage, which the lanterns found and held. The forty-one stood in their row beside it. They hadn’t moved since noon.
Elder Xu came down from the Inner Court with a dozen of the sect’s students behind him and stood in the gate-yard, facing the inner face of the oak, with his hands inside his sleeves. The Sect Master did not come. He sent word by a runner that he would hear the names read in the morning, in the hall, with the Elders’ bench full, and that he didn’t come to gates.
“He has sent his seal,” said Xu, when Lin looked round for him. “The Sect Master has always believed a seal could stand in a yard for a man.”
“Can it?”
