Chapter XXXVI • Clemence

“Now is not the time to be indulging in horseplay, old man,” I state as I continue following an excited Daw down deeper into the caverns of the hideout. The path seems to only be accessible through the training grounds, though I must admit that I have never noticed its entrance the entire time I have been in this organization. “I could have been using this time to improve my aim instead of... whatever this is you are doing. Where are you taking me?”

“Today is an important day, Clemence,” he replies, raising the oil lamp he is holding to light our way through yet another maze of tunnels. There are torches hung about on the walls, some of which are already lit. “I am about to show you an Unkindness tradition that goes back.”

A tradition?

“So, is that why nobody was lounging about in the common and dining area? There is this celebration going on?”

“Hm, something similar to that.”

“It makes sense. Well, t’was odd for me because that place is usually bustling with the young ones and th