Lily was waiting at the north gate.
She did not ask where John was. She had watched it all from the wall with Hessa beside her. She looked at Almond's face, and then at Big D, and then she took Almond's hand.
"It reached us," she said. "Up there. When he let it out."
"The quiet?"
"The whole wall sat down. Silvester. Kayla. Me." Her grip tightened. "Everything on my status went gray. Hush. Turnback. My rank. All of it."
"It came back."
"I know. When he pulled it in." She was quiet for a moment. Then she said, "The baby's didn't."
Almond looked at her.
"Its line," Lily said. "Under mine. The one that says its weight. Everything else went gray, and that one stayed lit." She put her hand on her stomach. "It didn't even flicker."
Almond did not know what that meant. Neither did she. But Lily did not let go of his hand all the way back to the hall.
They left at first light the next morning.
