The sixth warden, Qari, was a stolid, silent man who had yet to speak in Elen’s hearing. He walked behind the prince, alongside Luviara. The theurgist seemed to be having no trouble keeping up, despite her age. It was Hemerlin who was already lagging as they climbed. Kem and Ipis had been assigned as the rearguard. Kem was pointing out a pair of twin peaks now coming into view to the east, likely instructing Ipis in the local landmarks, as Elen had for him.

It was a good day to be outdoors. The sky was dappled with clouds like clumps of uncombed wool. The wind was cool but not cold, brisk but not strong. Late-blooming winter-beacon bushes dotted the hillside with purple flowers that only bloomed in autumn. Rock pigeons settled on a stony patch of ground to preen in the morning sun. No sweet rose-oil scent tainted the air. Maybe it would be an uneventful journey. A person could hope.

Captain Simo fell into step beside her with the ease of a man who has walked long distances. “What make you of the weather, Deputy Courier?”

They had come up high enough to get a dazzling view beyond Lancer’s Ridge and onto the lowlands, the winding silver ribbon of the Sul River, the patches of woodland and the stripes of fields. Even from this great distance, the imperial road was visible like a brushstroke drawn across the land, one of the sinews that knit the empire into its whole.

She gestured toward the southwest. “We may get rain later in the afternoon. You can see a front shifting in as haze.”

He squinted, shaded his eyes, and said, “You have sharp vision.”

“I know what to look for.”

He grunted softly.

She added, “By then, we should be in the forest. The trees will grant us some protection.”

“Why are there no trees here?” he asked. The great saddle of land swept down below them with its thick grass and low-growing bushes.

“According to the records, one of the earliest irruptions of Spore happened here, during the reign of the Azalea Emperor. That’s when the ruined village we passed had to be abandoned.”

“The bone pile is from that irruption?”

“As far as I know. It was what surveyors call a fast-blowing irruption. Every living thing in this contained watershed was corrupted. A firebreak had to be dug to stop the spread, and everything inside it got burned. Plants, animals, people, everything. Nothing grew afterward for many years but eventually ground cover, grass, and shrubs came up, as we see now.”

“Does Spore rise here often?”

“I’m told that, after the main irruption, for quite a while there were small outbreaks every year. The area had to be patrolled constantly, but it’s been quiet for the ten years I’ve walked this route. I hope it is not rising again.”

“Normally Spore avoids higher elevations.”