The convoy reached the shelter before sunset as families crowded beneath the wall and Loccy placed the dead guardian beside the entrance with a clean cloth over his face.
Toven carried the cleaned tablets in cloth bags while travelers watched him whenever anyone mentioned the funeral, as though the memory had made him responsible for a burial he could not name.
Hajin noticed the pattern while Mera kept her daughter behind one arm and said, "What happens when you remember the village before the fire, and before soldiers reached the eastern wall?"
Toven pressed one bag against his ribs and said, "Everyone remembers the same funeral, including people who never stood near the burial ground."
Mera lowered her eyes and said, "The funeral comes before the soldiers in every account, though I remember the eastern wall still standing at that time."
