Chapter 7 | Part 4

Zaelar marked the route in charcoal.

“From the tower, west until the old road disappears. Then north beneath the forest canopy.”

Drusniel leaned over the map.

“How long?”

“Several hours if you keep a good pace.”

“In daylight?”

“No.” Zaelar tapped the shuttered window. “We leave at dusk. You keep the hood up until the light is gone, and we stay under the trees.”

Drusniel traced the coast with one finger.

Zaelar marked a point.

“Three hundred paces north of this headland. Black rocks shaped like broken teeth.”

“A cove.”

“Small enough to miss unless you know where to look. There is a cave behind the rocks.”

“And the boat?”

“Inside. Reinforced hull. Oars. Rope. Water. Very little else.”

Drusniel looked up. “You maintained a boat for a crossing you haven’t made in decades?”

“I maintain exits.”

That answer sounded familiar enough to hurt.

His father had said the same thing in different words.

Drusniel looked back at the map.

“What happens once the boat reaches the boundary?”

“The Null will react before you can see anything. Keep it against your chest through the wards. Row as far as you can without magic; you felt how little the plate leaves you to work with.”

“I use it to get through. I won’t keep wearing it once I’m clear.”

“When it stops reacting to the wards, you can put it away.”

“And until then I row with numb hands.”

“Keep your grip loose when you can.”

Drusniel looked down at his palms.

“Why a boat? You told me prisoners were thrown through the boundary.”

“They usually die.”

“I’ll take the boat.”

“It gives you somewhere to rest and keeps you clear of what swims beneath it. That is all I can promise.”

“What does?”

“Nothing I know of.”

Drusniel covered the map and described the route back to him.

He missed the headland on the first attempt. Zaelar made him look again.

“Szoravel will know when I arrive.”

“The Null’s signal should reach him.”

“Should?”

Zaelar met his eyes.

“He will recognize it if it reaches him. I cannot make the sea carry it.”

Drusniel folded the map but did not put it in his pack.

“You aren’t giving me this.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“If you are searched, I would prefer the route remain in your head.”

Drusniel handed it back.

By sunset, he could reproduce every turn.

End of Chapter 7.4 —> 7.5: The Package: The Departure