Winter deepens and the mountain goes quiet. I used to like the quiet. Lately, when one set of footsteps is missing, the quiet itself starts to grate.

• OllenYour hearing's grown sharper. That's what happens with age, though for you it's taken a hundred years.
  DorhanThis isn't about my hearing.
• GarsaDown below, they're saying it isn't the mountain that's quiet. It's the king.
  DorhanShould I say it loud enough for down there to hear?