“As well you might, so I grant you my imperial and very handsome pardon.” He didn’t look at her, but his charming smile flashed, and his amusement made her heart do such a flip-turn that she had to bite her lower lip to focus as he went on. “The South Flat Vigil warden received a communication from the North Flat Vigil warden. What does this mean? North Flat, South Flat?”

“There is a Vigil tower on each side of a Pall, where the road meets the Pall. That’s why they’re called Vigils.”

“They are vigilant in keeping watch on the Pall?”

“That’s one reason, yes.”

“I’m quite clever. I hope you’ve noticed.”

“You’ve made it difficult not to. May I go on?”

“You have my permission, since I know you’ve been waiting for it.”

She snorted. “Anyway, that’s not the main reason for Vigil towers. The empire staffs sentinel towers all along the shoreline of a Pall to keep watch in case the Pall expands like water rising or a tide coming in. So people can be warned. A Vigil tower also keeps watch on the road and any traffic that comes and goes along the road where it crosses a Pall.”

“The imperial roads cross the Pall?”

“Yes, because the Pall can’t touch the witch roads, so the roads act as causeways across the Palls. The Vigils seem to have been built after the Pall rose. A Vigil isn’t just a watchtower. It’s also a gate through which one must pass to enter and leave a Pall. Your cargo is searched. People and living creatures are examined for signs of Spore. Imperial officials mark their date of passage so the palace knows where they are. And so on.”

“You’re saying humans and other animals can safely cross a Pall as long as they stay on the road?”

“That’s correct. The road protects them.”

“Thus the witchery. I see.”

“Don’t wardens carry a map of the empire and its roads?”

“Yes, Simo does. I got a look at it. But I can only learn the writing system if I can follow along as people are reading it out loud. I wasn’t able to make out the names of places. Not yet. Go on, if you please.”

“South Flat Vigil is in Ilvewind Province, at the southern shore of Flat Pall. North Flat Vigil is on the north side of Flat Pall, in Woodfall Province.”

“This gives me a better picture of the matter. The North Flat Vigil warden informed the South Flat Vigil warden they had lost all contact with the Far Boundary Vigil warden. I did figure out that Far Boundary Vigil is the last working Vigil tower on this road. As far as I can tell, it stands on the frontier of the empire.”