“More than just saw! I got a momentary window there! Like—if I get enough power behind me, I can open a temporary, really temporary Gate-like-thing—I call it a Snatch-Portal!—for long enough that Delia can pick up something from there, I can make a Gate-anchor out of it, we can open one again, and she can throw it back! Then I use the same bearing I figured out, in the cave, and sight in on it good and strong, and even better, the rest of that tree is still alive! So it’ll make it easier to get a lock, and if I can, I can burn in a searchable sigil. Which means—”

“We can open a Gate, a real Gate, out far beyond the border of the Empire,” Kordas said slowly. “Exactly what my father wanted. What he planned for. What we’ve been working for.”

Kordas felt the hair on the back of his neck standing up, and he grew hot and cold at once. After all this time, and all this effort—here it was. The Plan. It was no longer just a plan. They could make it a reality.

He and his family and anyone who wanted to come with them could escape the Empire. Forever.

“Are you sure of this?” he asked.

“Well, of course I’m not sure,” Jonaton said crossly. “It’s magic. It has built-in fuckery. Other mages could stop us—and will, if they’re in the Emperor’s service. But I am willing to make that Gate and use that Gate, and if that’s not good enough for you—”

“No, no, no, I understand!” Kordas hastened to tell him, as he rose to his feet and strode across the room to take Jonaton’s hand in his. “Good Gods, Jonaton, this is brilliant! You’re a genius! But—”

Jonaton stopped him before he could say anything. “Yes, I know, I know, and you’re right, the site is not on a body of water, much less a river of the size you want. But the thing is, the first Gate will just be temporary. You’ll send someone across to find a lake or a river, or even a swamp would do at a pinch—”

“Not a swamp. I do not even want to think about sheep in a swamp.” Kordas shuddered.