The royal sign stood in the barrow path.
Nether-Bane had chosen the stone for its clear view of the landing. Grave thieves approaching by water would see what protected the new refuge before their boat touched shore.
Maud arrived behind it with a full barrow.
“Moving that,” she asked, “or carrying every load over it?”
“It establishes protection.”
“Six feet left would establish protection without blocking my wheels.”
He looked at the small distance she meant and felt an unreasonable fury that such a useful warning should be reduced to an obstacle before breakfast.
He had seen that sign above a gate during a grave raid, long before the living boats now using this landing had been built. People had moved toward it through danger because something stood beneath it willing to answer.
