They made their preparations for travel as the camp was dismantled around them.
'Is the whole group coming?' asked Ironfoot.
'No,' said Je Wen. 'It's time to move camp. There will be a quake today. This valley will split open like a wound.'
The tents were loaded up into the goat carts, but all of the furniture, and most of the bric-a-brac that had been inside the tents, was left on the ground.
'To feed the bound gods,' said Je Wen with a knowing smile.
They were ready to go, but Lin Vo's tent was still standing, and she had yet to appear.
'Won't we see her again?' asked Sela, distraught.
'She has said all she has to say,' said Je Wen, shrugging. 'Let's go.'
A pregnant woman approached Je Wen and handed him a shoulder bag stuffed with what appeared to be provisions.
'My wife,' said Je Wen. He patted her stomach gently. 'And my son,' he said, smiling.
Je Wen kissed his wife gently on the cheek. She said something in Arami, clearly an admonition, and he put his hand on her cheek. She turned and went back to her tent, unsmiling.
'I imagine she's not thrilled with your leaving,' said Silverdun.
'I'll be back in plenty of time to see the child born,' said Je Wen.
He led them through the emptying camp, opposite the direction of the carts.
'We won't be taking one of those?' said Timha, despondent, pointing at the carts.
'Not where we're going,' said Je Wen. 'I hope you all know how to climb.'
They set off. When they reached the far rim of the valley, Ironfoot looked back. Lin Vo was standing in front of the line of fully packed carts, facing them. She seemed to be looking directly at Ironfoot. Then she turned around and walked past the carts, until Ironfoot could no longer see her.
Then the goat and the bear were married and lived together all their days. And whether it was that the goat became mad or the bear became sane, no one will ever know.
from 'The Goat and the Bear,'' Seelie fable
he first day they did little but walk through endless fields of wild grain and across windswept rocks. They stopped a few times to eat the food that Je Wen had packed, but spoke little.
Silverdun and Ironfoot had boundless energy and were able to keep up with Je Wen easily, but Sela was still exhausted, and had refused to be spellrested. Timha had spellrested himself but was still miserable. He was clearly unused to exercising any part of him other than his mind, and his boots were unsuited for hiking. He spent most of the morning gasping for breath and asking constantly to stop for rest.
Silverdun was growing sick of Timha. When Timha wasn't complaining about his feet or his exhaustion or the meager nourishment, he was feeling sorry for himself. A small but growing part of Silverdun felt like slitting Timha's throat and putting them all out of their misery. As he pondered this, it occurred to him that a year ago the thought would never have come to mind. His experience as a Shadow was changing him, had already changed him.
They continued south, following the course of a river for a time.
'How far to Elenth?' Silverdun asked Je Wen when they crested a small rise only to see endless mountains before them.
'Two days,' said Je Wen, pointing southwest. He looked back at Timha, who was straggling up the hill. 'Three with him along.'
Silverdun sighed. 'And from there two days' ride to the border,' he said. 'Three days lost without our speedy yacht. I suppose it could be worse.'
'It can always be worse,' said Je Wen.
'Well said.'
'We could shave off a few hours if you were willing to cut through the Contested Lands,' said Je Wen. 'I've traversed them before.'
Silverdun had crossed the Contested Lands with Mauritane a year previously, and had no intention of ever returning. He told Je Wen so in no uncertain terms.
They continued in silence for the rest of the first day. Aside from the
