Day 22 · the man's side
The Law of the Patronage — the Man Who Backs a Man
His weapon
The open purse and the vouched name
His post
Behind a younger man, holding the ladder
The charge
A lord is measured by who he lifts. Patronage is putting his name, money, or table behind a man who cannot yet return it — an apprentice, a son-in-law, a brother between seasons.
It is also receiving it well. A man too proud to be backed stays small and calls it independence.
The watch — what it looks like when he skips this day
Hoarding the ladder so no one can stand at his height.
His oath
“I will back one man who cannot pay me back.”
The other side of the mirror
On the women's side this same day is The Law of Patronage, and its stone is Lapis Lazuli. Same law, same order — she strings it, he sets it in stone.