Nathan had not stayed inside the night.
The guest quarters had been fine — clean mat, good lamp, the castle's interior woodwork carrying the quality of a domain that had been prosperous long enough to spend money on the details. But the forge district's heat had not fully left the air even at night, and the castle's walls held it in and turned the enclosed space into something close and heavy that had no interest in letting him breathe properly.
So he had gone up.
The roof tiles were cold at night, which was exactly what he wanted. He had crossed the sloped section near the east wing, found a flat ridge where two roof planes met, and lain down with his arms folded behind his head and Kyōmei beside him and the open sky above spreading from one horizon to the other in the deep, unobstructed dark of a territory with no lights above the treeline.
He had fallen asleep looking at the stars.
