Chapter 14: Last Year's Lamps

The stitch let go on the third course of the wash-house wall, and blood ran down into Kael's eye. Mira had sewn the brow shut the night before with her black thread, five stitches pulled through by the stove, talking the whole time so he would not feel the needle. He wiped his cheek with the back of his wrist and went on up. The wall was soot-black brick with a gutter pipe bolted to it, and he put his weight on each bolt before he trusted it. Below him Mira climbed with her shawl knotted behind her and her breath coming short. He had told her the roof was a bad idea. She had told him it was the only place in the lane that could see Marr's step. They had each said their piece at the foot of the wall, and each had been heard. That was the…