Brother Moon led him as far as the great carved doors of the church and no further.
At the top of the wide stone steps, he stopped and bowed, the same silent, careful bow he'd given in the aisle. Then he turned and walked back into the church without a single word, and the shadows inside swallowed him up.
Jin stood alone at the top of the steps and looked out over the courtyard.
It was full of people again. The morning had gone bright and warm, and the whole fortress seemed to be out in it. People sat on the benches and walked along the paths and knelt in the gardens, their robes soft and colorful in the sun. Children were splashing in the fountain. Somewhere, someone was still humming the dawn song.
Every face he could see was smiling.
He walked down the steps and into the crowd, and started back toward the guest house by the western wall.
