“I thought you might pass this way,” he said. “I thought maybe we could travel together.”

As invitations went, it had charm mostly because of his lazy smile. He wasn’t a happy man; trouble shadowed those thick-lashed eyes. But he wasn’t the kind to let trouble stop him from making an effort to please. And surely the gods knew how bitterly lonely she had become. Maybe she had hoped for this meeting more than she dared admit.

“I can leave any time,” she said.

THEY RODE OUT of High Haldia soon after. Once on the Istri Walk, the hooves of their horses lit the road, a glow emanating like a mist formed of dying sparks. The city was silent except for the occasional barking of a dog or the noise of beasts as they passed, and inhaled the smell of, stabling yards. Twice, night patrols aggressively hailed them but, seeing them close, hurriedly bowed and let them pass.

“It’s quiet,” she said.

“But orderly. The troublemakers are dead or fled or in hiding. The rest do what they’re told.”

“Which is?”

“Farm. Mill. Manufacture. Pay a heavy tithe to the army in exchange for not being killed. That’s the bargain they were offered. Most took it.”

“And the ones who did not?”

“As I said.”

“High Haldia has a decent population. There’s a lot of land between here and Walshow, not to mention Haldia in general and Seven and the uplands of Teriayne beyond. And Gold Hall above the Falls. How can an army keep that much land and that many people under a reign of fear?”

“You Hundred folk don’t understand the way of the world, do you? It seems the mountains and sea—and your reeves and Guardians—have protected you for a long time in your tiny enclaves. I was a troublemaker once, but I learned that a well-disciplined army with strong leadership can control a great deal of territory.”

“How?”

“I and some others got in trouble with the Qin overlords of the trading town where I grew up. Instead of executing us, they sent us off to be useful elsewhere, which in my case meant being sold into a mercenary company as a soldier. One day about a hundred of us marched north over the high mountains and into the Hundred on a contract. We were betrayed, and I was killed. After that, I found myself prisoner of the cloak.”

“Mine’s a simpler tale. A country girl, sent to the city to find work. I was chosen as a reeve instead. I believe I was killed in the line of duty. Thus you find me.”

“Here’s the first toll gate.” As they approached a stockade placed to control traffic on the road, Hari raised his voice to alert the guard. “We’re passing through. I’m of no mind to mince words with your sergeant.”

Men opened the gate, careful not to look up. They rode through without slackening their pace. Beyond this stockade the city turned into a scattered collection of threshing yards, stinking tanneries, aromatic corrals, and silent timber lots. High Haldia’s environs seemed as deserted as the city itself.