Chapter 24: Fixture Set

The Ring at dawn had dew on its boards and a crew of six on its sand, coiling cable. Kael stopped on the service stair with his right arm strapped across his chest and looked down at them. Pallo Drum stood at the east post with the slate under his arm, reading a line off it under his breath. The cable came up from the sand in long wet loops, and the crew carried them to a cart without a word, like men taking away what was left of a job they had already finished. At the stair's foot Marlowe read from the steward's ledger, one knuckle on the newel post. "East collar. Re-cabled on the thirty-third. Maintenance." "Reconciled," said the steward, in his sash. "The posts are to be inspected before the bout." "Rated." Marlowe tapped the wood. "All four. As of the first bell." She went off along…