Lessa places the copied accounts inside a sealed oilskin packet beneath her coat. The packet rests against her ribs without ward, witness, or ceremonial claim.
Hadrik remains beneath the third alder with the older ledger fragment, while Seren and Lessa search the cooper’s yard. Warped barrels conceal fresh scratches and river mud.
Lessa Orin
The names cannot all travel. Some people are still hiding, and a readable list could lead Veyra’s loyalists straight to them.
Seren Vale
Then we copy the altered passages and route marks, but leave the living names concealed here unless someone chooses to reveal them.
Seren finds gray thread caught beneath a barrel hoop, matching the loyalists’ hidden cuffs. Beyond the yard, faint cart ruts turn toward the abandoned ferry-house.
Lessa Orin
The dates and clerk’s hand can travel safely. The refuge names stay hidden in the cooper’s cellar, beneath the loose flagstone, until I decide otherwise.
Seren Vale
That gives us evidence without handing Veyra a map of frightened people. We take the route, the alterations, and nothing more.