Ipis said, to Kem, “I told you so,” and then, to Xilsi, “I thought end-of-road Vigils went to old-timers who couldn’t handle anything more strenuous.”

“Mekvo got injured in the east. Far Boundary Vigil is a quiet place to recover. He sends me letters about how he goes fishing and berry picking. He even caught three hatchling sarpa.”

“There are sarpa in the north?” Kem asked. “Joef says—”

“Here we go,” drawled Ipis.

“—they are desert creatures and need hot sand to hatch their eggs. Is that wrong?” he finished, sounding defensive.

“No argument from me,” said Xilsi. “Maybe Mekky was just pulling my leg. Sarpa scare the fuck out of me, and that’s with them being on our side. Or, at least, sarpa riders claim they can control them. I would rather face one of the giant spiders the Blood Wolves ride. Well. Maybe not. Anyway, Elen, to answer your question, if we were still in the palace carriages, we could reach the Vigil by dusk today. Since we aren’t, I figure three days, depending on the quality of the horses we get the farther north we go. Today we’ll get good replacements because we’ll be in Pelis Manor territory. But after that we’ll be back in a regular intendancy under backwater provincial rule. According to Mekvo, there’s not much up here except poor farmers growing oats, rye, and turnips, and shepherds with endless flocks of sheep.”

They drove for most of the day in silence. The gloomy weather weighed heavily. Kem didn’t even ask for stories. The forest ran on and on through rolling hills thick with trees. The distinctive sweet-sour aroma of hallow-wood acted as a balm to restless thoughts. Hallow-wood protected against Spore, and it also soothed, so Ao had often said. She would add shavings of hallow-wood bark to tisanes to help people through labor. Not because it eased the pain, she’d told Elen, but because it made the pain easier to bear.

Or maybe the wardens weren’t talking because, the closer they got to their destination, the more guarded and anxious they became. No one knew what they would find there, or even what the prince expected to find. The dead Sea Wolf, who had claimed to be an envoy from a “far land,” complicated the situation. Could it be possible the Sea Wolf was the same “envoy” who had arrived at the Vigil? Had he murdered everyone there before setting off south? Probably Xilsi was worried for her friend, on top of everything else.