A three-voice map

The next day, the Salines prepared their departure. Zaelyra's group would not leave yet; they would wait for the name of the guide and the agreement of the refuge. While waiting, Nym examined the copper fragment with Ilda. They compared the corrosion to the old parts of the pipes, then to the few fragments found in the reserves of the salt pan.

"Metal is of the same composition," Nym concludes. "But this type of copper has served for generations."

"And the brand?" asked Kethra.

Ilda placed the fragment on the fabric. The small angle engraved could be an initial, a sign of manufacture or a repair.

"She may be from Saira," she says. "It can also belong to the workshop that provided the pipes."

Kethra did not defend herself. "I wanted it to be her."

"It's different from believing it," says Zaelyra.

"I know."

Ilda returned the fragment to Nym. "Keep it as a sample. Not as proof."

The sentence entered the caption of the map. Zaelyra reserved three signs for human information: direct testimony, reported story, uncertain identification. Ithryl proposed to add the date and name of the interviewee each time.

"It will make the maps more difficult to read," says the guard.

"They are made to be read," Ithryl replied. "Not to be simple."

Zaelyra traced three versions of the path to the Refuge of the Bells. The first gave only the necessary branches. The second contained air measurements and water levels. The third kept the stories, dates and uncertainties.

Nym examined the foreground. "If the group loses the second map, it will not know where the air changes."

"The guides will know the measures."

"What if a guide disappears?"

"So we go back to the place where the three maps meet."

"What if this room is inaccessible?"

Zaelyra removed the pen from the parchment. She had no answer. Nym didn't ask him to invent one.

They decided that each group would carry at least two complementary fragments, carried by two different people. The stories and names would remain on a separate sheet, entrusted to a person who would not travel in the head.

"We can make the maps less useful to the pursuers without making them useless to those who follow them," says Zaelyra. "That's all we know how to do."

Kethra heard. "You changed your mind about the complete maps."

"I changed my mind about who should be able to read them."

"It's not the same."

"No."

In the afternoon, Nara announced that a guide had agreed to drive them. His name was Orven, a svirfneblin who had left the Bell Refuge before his abandonment and now lived in a community several days away. He did not know the galleries beyond the last point noted on the map.

"He doesn't promise to take you to a city," Nara explained. "He undertakes to drive you to the first stop and request a hearing."

"Will he travel with us?" asked Rhylor.

"Until you reach the stop, or until he decides that you no longer listen to his warnings."

"It's a reasonable condition," says Zaelyra.

"It's a condition that can put him in danger," Nara replied. "He will not leave without an explicit agreement from your group."

They held their own council in the courtyard. The families had questions. How many days? Two or three, depending on the rhythm. Water? A reservation for the journey, but the following source was not confirmed. Enemies? No recent signal, which did not mean that there was none. A way back? Up to the Salines, yes; beyond that, the maps remained incomplete.

The woman whose brother was injured finally chooses to stay. His brother would leave with the group, accompanied by the carrier and a guide. She entrusted them with the vial, then changed her mind and took it back.

"I'll give it back to you when you come back," she says.

"What if I don't come back?"

"Then she will remain mine."

He smiled for the first time since Veyr's departure. They didn't promise to meet again. They only said to each other where the other could ask for news.

Tazri was placed in the middle group. She did not protest. The box of maps would not be entrusted to her; she would carry the bag of lamps, lighter and necessary for all.

"Do you still want to follow Dhal's sign? Rhylor asked him.

Tazri touched the box. "I want to know if he has passed."

"What if you never know?"

She looked at Zaelyra, as if she was waiting for an adult answer. No one did it.

"Then I will at least know where I walked," she finally said.

Rhylor tilted his head. "It's already something."

In the evening, Zaelyra sat with Nara near the air chimney. The old counselor gave him a strip of cloth bearing the sign of the Salines.

"If you have to come back, show this to the first goalkeeper. It doesn't give you passage, but it proves that we sent you."

"What if someone else takes it?"

"Then he will still have to convince the goalkeeper."

Zaelyra put away the band with the maps, separated from the names.

"Why help us? She asked.

Nara followed with her eyes the streams of dust that rose in the chimney. "I'm not helping you yet. I give you a way to ask without being taken for an intruder. It's different."

"Yes."

"You seem to understand."

"I'm trying."

Nara nodded her head. "This is a more useful answer than many oaths."