That was when he heard his name. Faintly yet unmistakably his name, coming from the other side of the rock. He heard it again, and realized that he wasn’t being spoken to—he was being spoken about. Shifting closer to the edge of the spire, he peeped around.

Father and Castor stood there, talking in low voices. Very low voices, in fact—if he hadn’t been right there, he’d never have heard them.

‘… do about Albert?’ Father was saying.

Castor scratched his chin. ‘I do not know, Father. I did not want to say anything there. But there is nothing I can do. We are desperately low on—on everything. And to top it all, the Collegium has requested sixteen more tents this week.’

‘Sixteen? Can it not be less?’

Castor shook his head violently. ‘No, they need them urgently, from what the Praetor tells me. They have calculated that if they house five to a tent, then they can make do with sixteen.’

‘That’s eighty new cases! Just this week?’

‘I am afraid so.’

Now Father shook his head. ‘Things are getting worse, Castor.’

‘And they will continue to get worse,’ replied the other. ‘As I said, we are running short on everything. Every day new people come in, and you turn none away. We just don’t have enough for everyone.’

‘What would you have me do, Castor?’

‘Perhaps take a leaf from Vail’s book and—’

‘No, Castor, I will not seal the exits and bar people from entering!’

‘It would only be for a short while,’ insisted Castor. ‘Just until we can get a handle on things, step up production to meet requirements. Otherwise we will be overrun.’

‘We have faced problems in the past and …’

Albert felt someone bump into him, and swung around, startled. Theo stood there grinning up at him. ‘Spying?’ she mouthed.

Albert placed his finger on his lips and turned back, pressing against the rock again, inching towards the edge. Father was still talking. ‘—cannot do as you suggest, Castor. That would make us no different from—from them. It would go against everything, the reason we built this place! No, it cannot be done.’

‘Well, something has to be done. Or we will just run out of resources, and soon. But if you will not seal the borders, there is still one other thing you can do.’

‘And what is that?’

‘Talk to them,’ replied Castor, pointing upwards.

Father had his back to him so Albert couldn’t see his face, but he heard the horror in his tone, all right. ‘To them? Have you taken leave of your senses, Castor? The people will never stand for it! There are those here who would rather die than ever—’

‘Then they may soon get their wish,’ remarked Castor. ‘We need the help and—’