The Watcher found them at the relief hearth the next morning. The camp was stirring but not yet moving, which left the old woman the only fully awake person at the fire.
She walked with her pink gaze fixed on Ash rather than on any adult present, and the child met her stare without flinching or looking away.
"You need to hear what the nodes were before Concord turned them into anchors." She sat on the stone lip of the hearth across from them.
The firelight caught the pale geometry at her wrists while she spoke.
"You need to hear it because the boy will carry the weight of the answer whether you understand it or not."
Juna shifted her weight closer to Ash without drawing attention to it. Loccy mirrored her from the other side while Ferra set down her sketchbook and gave the old woman her full attention.
