“I know what it means,” Len said. His voice was fully steady, devoid of drama or pause. “It means I stay inside. It means I can’t walk through that canopy until we open the sky.”
“Len, that’s madness,” Bram hissed, grabbing Len’s good shoulder with a heavy, pleading hand. “You have an active hunter out there with Burdenless Step! You have a punctured left forearm held together with horsehair stitches! If you give away your transit pass, Chancellor Morn can declare you an illegal vagrant whenever he pleases. You’ll have no legal standing, no guild protection, and no way home to your sister!”
Bram shook his head wildly, his voice cracking with emotion. “I saw your sister’s name in your route book. Cira Vey. She’s waiting for you at Cross-Hollow. She already lost her father seven years ago. If you don’t walk out that gate, she loses her brother too. Do you want to leave her alone on that mountain road?”
Len looked down at his father’s survey notes resting in his satchel pocket. He thought of Cira standing on the wooden porch in Cross-Hollow. She watched the empty highway with her hand shielding her eyes from the morning sun. He thought of the three years she had spent paying off Deren’s alleged debts. He took extra sewing work by candlelight. Meanwhile, the neighbors whispered about the courier who had deserted his post.
