Sect Year 4 · twelfth month · day 30 · Azure Stream Sect; the ride down at the end
The twelve days ran together the way days did in the sect when nothing in them was asked of him. He woke before the bell each morning in the cave on the north ridge, on the rough cot where he had slept many nights in the early years. He lay under the blanket and listened to the rain on the roof planks until the grey came through the mouth of the cave.
The Wheel did not speak. He didn’t ask it to. He lay with his hands open on the wool and let the morning come to him, which was harder than it sounded. Then he got up and went down the ridge stair to the Outer Court.
On the third morning he took the bucket from its hook by the gatehouse wall and filled it at the water tank. Gao Wen did not offer him anything. He simply stopped sweeping and watched Lin carry the bucket out to the flags, and then he went back to his own strokes. They worked the flat stone slabs side by side from the gate to the first terrace step, Gao Wen with his broom and Lin on his knees with a scrubbing brush where the dirt had set.
