Kethra's decision

They left the market with Ysil, a low-voiced guide who had crossed the northern galleries to the basalt steps. She was not responsible for taking them to a specific destination; she only knew the way to the first branch.

The group stopped at the outside door, where the travelers were waiting for their turn. Kethra asked Zaelyra to walk with her.

"Othar said that a man wanted to know if I was still wearing the buckle."

"Yes."

"It means that Saira may be alive. Or that someone uses his name."

"Yes."

"And the Fosse aux Cloches could be linked to missing travelers."

"Maybe."

"I want to go south."

Zaelyra looked at the families behind them. Some had already left the yard. Others were still waiting, the bags placed at their feet.

"Only?"

"I don't know. I want to ask Ysil if she knows the way."

"You can't take people without telling them why."

"I won't do it."

"And if you leave, the others will not be able to count on you to guide them to the west."

"I know."

Zaelyra was silent. She would have said that the group needed Kethra. It would be true. That wouldn't be a reason to forbid him to leave.

"I'm not going to ask you to choose now," she says. "But I want to know before we cross the next branch."

Kethra nodded. "It's fair."

Ysil confirmed that she knew the first part of the road to the south. La Fosse aux Cloches was beyond a former miners' relay, but she had not been there for several years. She wouldn't take them there without a local guide.

"If we separate, I could accompany you to the relay," she told Kethra. "Not further."

"I understand."

"And I won't let the others follow without telling them the risk."

Kethra accepted. She did not ask Zaelyra to replace her.

The group held council before the branch. Most wanted to continue west. Two travelers were considering returning to Les Salines after the first stop, where they could wait for news. The merchant wanted to follow the main road as long as it remained passable. Senn wanted to accompany Kethra, but he had no reason to believe that his father was in the south.

"I don't want you to come for me," Kethra told him.

"I don't know if I'm coming for you."

"Then choose for yourself."

"I want to find the Threshold of Barrels."

"He is to the west, not to the south."

Senn looked at the map. "So I continue with Zaelyra. If we hear something, I'll decide later."

"It's a choice," she says. "Not a promise."

He nodded his head.

Kethra stayed with the group. She did not give up on Saira; she postponed the search until she could continue it without leading families who had not chosen her.

Zaelyra did not congratulate her. She simply noted the choice and the time at which it had been made. No one was later to claim that Kethra had sworn to stay.

Ysil made them cross the first branch. A large basalt arch marked the separation between the southern and western roads. The travelers had engraved names, signs, dates and arrows in the stone. Some inscriptions were recent; others, gnawed by time.

In the center, a name had been almost completely erased. We still distinguished the letters: Saira.

Kethra stopped. Zaelyra did not hold her back.

"Do you want to watch? She asked.

"Yes."

They approached without touching the stone. A second name, inscribed under the first, had been scratched deeper. None of them could read it.

"Maybe it's not the same Saira," says Kethra.

"No."

"I could ask Ysil to drive us south."

"You can."

"But I won't do it today."

She stepped back. The decision cost her no less because she had chosen it.

Ysil gave them the plate of the western road. She wore a walking symbol, and on the reverse the marks of the stops where they had to ask for a guide. Zaelyra returned the previous plate to the guide. The two pieces did not come together; they had been designed to never form a complete map.

"Is the next stop safe?" asked the merchant.

"It is inhabited," replied Ysil. "I don't know if it will be safe for you."

"You don't have any simple answer?"

"Yes. No."

The group crosses the arch. Behind them, the path from the south descended towards the Fosse aux Cloches and the possible traces of Saira. In front, the road went up to the basalt steps.

Zaelyra looked at the map one last time. She could not register all the roads they would not take. She only noticed the branch, the name almost erased and the choice of Kethra.

Then she followed Ysil to the west.