Chapter 15: Enough

Two slow, three quick. The knock came through the alcove wall at first light, and Kael lay with his eyes open and let it finish. It was the old code, the one they had worn into a beam when the levy men were on the stair. Quiet night. Under the knock was the beam itself, smooth as a handle, and the iron warm against his back, and Mira's feet cold in his hands. He had not thought of it in years and he had it entire. He knocked it back on the plaster with his knuckle. Two, then three. When he came out she was at the stove with the kettle and a ration slip, her back to him. "Is it a draw?" she said. "Today." "It's a listening drill." "Is it a draw." "It won't be," Kael said. He meant it as a plan. She took it for a…