The courtyard had grown narrower beneath the weeds.
Rylan kept the lodge wall against his left shoulder. Moonlight caught the broken fountain and the empty windows above it. He could see no one, but someone had cleared a small space behind an overturned trough. A piece of sacking hung across the gap.
"Come out," he said.
The sacking moved. A girl backed into view with both hands held out. One contained a wooden bird whose wing had been carved much larger than the other.
"I haven't taken anything."
Her eyes went to his knife. Rylan lowered it.
"You were coughing."
"I can leave."
He had no idea how long she had slept there. Her coat was too short at the wrists, and there was a raw patch where one boot rubbed her ankle. Sixteen, she told him when he asked. Her name was Elara.
"Where are your people?"
She closed her fingers around the bird. "Not here."
He recognized the care in that answer. An unknown man with a knife was not entitled to her whole life merely because he had asked.
"There's water in the lodge. Some biscuits."
She looked past him at the door, then toward the court gate.
"You can take your share outside," he added.
Only then did she follow.
He divided the biscuits before sitting down. They were harder than he remembered. Elara softened hers in water and ate without looking up. Rylan made himself eat slowly, though hunger hurt now that food was within reach.
"Did you see who came here?" he asked. "Before tonight. Anyone carrying a man?"
She shook her head. "I came yesterday. I thought the place was empty."
"So did I."
She studied him more closely. "You live here?"
Rylan glanced toward the court. All the answers he could give sounded worse spoken aloud.
"I used to."
Elara finished half her portion and tucked the rest into her pocket. He thought of telling her nobody would take it. Instead he wrapped his own remaining biscuits and set them in the chest. Promises from strangers cost very little.
At dawn, he found her asleep beside the door, sacking drawn over her knees. She had left herself a clear path out.
Rylan put the knife where he could reach it and returned to the mat. He had completed one circuit the night before. Now he needed three in succession.
The first held. During the second, a drop from the roof struck his neck and he nearly cursed. He let the irritation pass before it disturbed the breath. The third hurt: a narrow pressure beneath his ribs, then a release so sudden he bent forward with his palms against the floor.
Heat spread through his limbs.
[Initialization milestone complete.]
[Cultivation: Qi Gathering, early stage.]
[Remaining initialization reserve: one release. Requirement: stable circulation and controlled external output.]
Rylan stared at his hands. They looked exactly as they had before. He closed one around a loose length of firewood and lifted. Its weight had changed, or he had.
He set it down carefully.
Elara watched from the doorway. "Are you a cultivator?"
The answer had been no for so long that he hesitated.
"I've started."
She considered that. "Can you make the roof stop leaking?"
He looked at the wet patch on his mat. Then he laughed, briefly enough to surprise himself.
"Find me something to stand on."