"The first marker," Gruk said. "Eight years ago. I carried the stone for it myself." His voice was very even. "Frost's been working on it all week."
Satou looked up at him.
"Take it," Gruk said. "If he wants it. It's only a stone."
Neither of them believed that.
Kazuma pressed the chip to his chest with both hands and turned toward the main building.
——
In the common room he walked straight to the chalk mark and set the chip down on it.
Freda put the marble at the arrangement's edge.
It rolled across the boards, straight and unhurried, and stopped against the chip with a small, clean click.
Nobody spoke.
Kazuma sat back, apparently satisfied, and began to adjust the other stones, one thumb's width at a time, until they all pointed at it.
Freda wrote one line.
The floor is level. Everything else in the room has stopped agreeing.
---
Morgana sent for them after dark.
