Page 214 of The Sun He Buried

“Then use the mine scale before it leaves and the pass scale when it reaches the eastern gate.”

“That leaves the road unmeasured.”

“The road’s the part we’re testing.”

Ketill’s brows lift.

Eirik looks at me.

Really looks.

The Hall, the map, Baldr’s hand, and the open sky all wait outside that gaze.

“Change the seals on the lower wagon,” I say. “Not the color. The shape. If the tally is wrong again, we’ll know whether the seal changed with it.”

“We,” Baldr says.

One word.

His hand leaves mine.

I turn.

Baldr’s looking at the map.

“Sólvik will receive the wagons,” he continues. “My clerk can send the counts back.”

“That’s what I meant.”

“You said we.”

“There are several people at this table.”

“And only one of them keeps forgetting where she lives.”

The bright square from the window reaches the edge of his sleeve.

Nobody moves.

Baldr’s face changes before I can answer.

He heard it too.

“That came out wrong.”

My hand flattens on the map. “It came out very clearly.”

“Sól.”

“I know where I live.”

Do I?

No.

I take my hand from the map.

Across the table, Eirik moves.