Almond spoke first.
"I'm coming," he said.
"No," said Ainen.
He said it before Almond had even finished. He said it gently, but there was nothing soft under it at all.
"Ainen..."
"No." Ainen turned around. The small gold thing sat at his feet beside the empty bowl, flickering in the light of the Door. "You promised Lily. On the tower. You said you'd come back and stay a while. I heard you say it, before we left Brightwater."
"You weren't on the tower."
"I didn't need to be," Ainen said. "You say it every time. And every time, you go somewhere else." He put his hand on Almond's shoulder. "Not this time. This time you keep it."
Almond opened his mouth. Then he shut it again.
"Besides," Ainen said, a little more lightly. "Somebody has to be standing at this Door when I come back out. And I'd like it to be you."
"How many can you take?" Rudra asked John.
John had been standing a little apart. He thought about it honestly.
