Chapter 16: Held Doors

Crane came down Cooper's Stair on foot at ten in the morning and stopped on the yard flags, one pace short of the new threshold. He wore the plain grey coat and the soft grey gloves. Rook carried the levy book under one arm. Tamsin held a slate board against her chest, two clerks stood behind her with satchels, and four bailiffs grounded their staves in a rank. Coal smoke hung low over the yard, and the bell on its post dripped from the night's frost. Ilan had walked out ahead of them. Three days were left of the thirty. His ribs sat stiff in Sera's strapping like a board in a vice. He went down on one knee in the middle of the threshold, laid his left palm on the relaid course, and spoke before Crane had finished looking over the yard. "Warden. The hall is closed to visitors.…