There’d been Kem, mourning his mother. It was especially complicated for a child to mourn a parent they had both loved and been so very angry with. Worst of all, Kem’s last exchange of words with his mother had been in argument.

“You can discuss Kema’s—Kem’s—Declaration later,” Elen had said to them both that day, thinking they just needed time to cool off. She would never cease regretting that she had let Aoving leave with the conversation unresolved, without even a hug for the growing youth Aoving didn’t quite know how to accept for who he was becoming, because his growing desire to speak to his own needs had scared Ao. Everything had scared her. Of course it had.

Just as she had hoped, the haunt strolled up beside her.

“Are you all right, Deputy Courier? You seem … preoccupied.”

39 THE MORNING OF THEIR DEATH

He shaded his eyes with a hand. Xilsi had walked down to the anchoring posts and was testing their strength by trying to shift them. Simo stood about fifty paces to the right, trying to get the best view of the track of the avalanche across the canyon that allowed him to also see where the road emerged on either side of the rockfall. If a person knew where to stand, two of the five bridges were visible in the distance, spectacular feats of engineering. Simo had a notebook out and was sketching the scene. Jirvy remained out of sight on the other side of the ridge, keeping a sentry’s eye on the trail they’d climbed.

“I understand better now,” the haunt remarked. “The road lies beneath the rubble, so physical traffic can’t move along it until the rock has been cleared. If it even can be cleared. But whatever magic is built into the road lies in its deepest foundation. So the magic wasn’t affected, because the avalanche merely covers the roadbed. Do you know what manner of magic it is?”

“People say it is a protective magic created by the bones of the holy venerables of ancient days, whose purpose in life was to protect the vulnerable and the lowly.”

“Is that what the wardens say?”

“The wardens claim the empire created the magic to protect the roads. But the real question is how old the original roads are. Luviara seems to think they are older than the empire.”

“Hm. There were roads, long past, in my day, although I never had reason to use them, nor did I ever see them being built, so I can’t be sure they are the same ones. I’d like to ask about warden magic, but they would find that suspicious since I am meant to know all. Yet I have so many questions.”

“Like what?”