Chapter 21: The Culvert Grate

The loose board by the second-room doorway spoke under his boot, and from the dark behind the anvil Orin said, "Shut the door." Kael shut it. He had been to the forge twice the day before and found nobody home. Now it was the last night bell. There was no fire, only the grey in the one window and the dead bulk of the bellows, and a shape standing behind the anvil with a cracked notebook under one arm. "You are awake," Kael said. "I am awake." Orin did not move. "You have walked here in the dark with an arm in a splint." Kael put his left hand on the anvil's cold face. "Halden has your name. He has the address." "What did he show you?" "The gate log. Your name, the Low Stair address, and a note in the margin." He kept his eyes on the iron. "His…