“Can no one get an hour of privacy in this benighted world?” he muttered.

“I beg your pardon, Your Highness,” said Xilsi in a sharp tone. “I missed that.”

Hastily, Elen said, “Where do we stop next?”

Xilsi waved at Ipis to ride ahead to scout a copse growing next to the road, while she settled her mount into an easy trot beside the carriage, allowing her to converse without shouting. “The last Halt on the road. On the map, it’s called Urwine Halt, but Mekvo says the locals call it Sheep Bladder Halt.”

“Sheep Bladder Halt?” Elen glanced at the haunt, who had fixed a haughty look upon his handsome face. He made no attempt to enter the conversation. He seemed genuinely upset that their private exchange had been so rudely interrupted, even if Xilsi was right.

“There’s got to be a story behind that!” Elen urged.

“Indeed, there must be,” drawled the haunt sardonically.

“Ah, well,” temporized Xilsi, “it was just a local story Mekky wrote to me, because he knows I love a good tale.”

“I am eager to hear it,” said the haunt, clearly still annoyed at the interruption, but knowing he couldn’t chase Xilsi off without arousing even more questions.

“Of course, Your Highness. There’s a large river that runs north, eventually through the Pall and into the northern ocean, I believe, all of that out of our reach now. Here in the Woodfall Province, the lands east of that river used to be the most populous in the region, rich with farming, fishing, and quarries. Before the Pall, farmers brought their produce to Urwine Halt, which had a bustling market. One year there were catastrophic rains that washed out the only bridge. People had to float their produce and grains across on sheep bladders to get to market. The name stuck.”

Elen scanned the countryside. She saw not a single habitation. “It doesn’t seem very populated now.”

“When a Pall covered all that northern region, the trade died out. A few people still live in the Halt, farmers and shepherds and such, but besides a magistrate, it’s not even got a Warden Hall.”

“It must have a Heart Temple,” said Elen.

“Yes, according to our maps. That’s where we’ll stay.”

The haunt said, “If we push through, we can reach Far Boundary Vigil today.”

“Not before sunset, Your Highness.”

“We are safe on the road, even at night.”

“If there is a change of horses available.”

“We’ll push through,” he said. “I am alarmed that Lord Genia’s messenger never returned. I am alarmed we have heard nothing from Captain Mekvo himself. Are you not alarmed for your comrade, Xilsi?”

She was silent for a stretch, then said somberly, “It’s why I volunteered for this mission, Your Highness.”

He looked at her with a flicker of amusement in his eyes. “What, not for me?”