The Anchor chamber was cold in the morning.
Kenji sat on the floor with his back against the World Stone. Someone had brought him a blanket and a bowl of soup. The soup was untouched. The blanket was around his shoulders, and he had one hand flat on the stone behind him and kept it there.
He looked up when Nathan came in.
"They told me you were leaving," he said.
"Who told you?"
"Everyone. The guards talk." Kenji pulled the blanket tighter. "South?"
"South."
Nathan sat down next to him. Through Hunter's Insight, the gold thread between Kenji and the stone was short and steady now. No fraying. The boy looked better than he had on the plain. Still pale, but his hands had stopped shaking.
"I want to come," Kenji said.
"I know."
"I'm level forty-one now. That has to be worth something."
