Chapter 79. Packing the Silence

We prepared the way an old house does—by listening to what would creak when the storm finally climbed the hill.

Syra laid out the escort on a slate board, pebbles for people, knives for contingencies. “Two files ahead, one behind, Mavienne center, Orla left of Thessia, Kael right. Neris, you ghost where you please and don’t make me regret the trust.”

Neris grinned without teeth. “I only regret it later.”

Rhea scrawled on a length of canvas, chalk snapping under her quick hands. “Court wards will strip active blessings at the Drawn Gate. Keep your charms quiet until we cross the first veil. Anything loud, they’ll bill us for in blood.”

“Lovely customer service,” I said.

Mavienne set a little tray on the table and pushed it toward me. Two bone pins, a charm braided from ash-gray hair, a vial of oil that smelled like rosemary and smoke. “Pins in your braids,” she said, businesslike. “Charm on your boot, inside, where the eye won’t go first. Oil on your thr