Atheron traced the last northern watchtower before the capital road, while the newest dispatch lay weighted beside his study desk. Beyond the drawn curtains, a sentry called the fourth watch, and the returning company's road ran straight beneath his finger.
He stayed bent over the map until the door clicked open behind him.
Elias set a tray beside the dispatch and poured the infusion himself, "You sent the attendants to bed again, Your Majesty."
"I sent them to bed so nobody would watch me stare at a road," he grumbled without lifting his finger from it.
"The company remains on schedule," Elias said, setting the cup where it could be reached without leaving the map.
"They arrive tomorrow, and the scouts confirm living men beneath the royal banner."
"Living men," Atheron repeated, snorting at the ceiling.
"A company crawls home from an anomaly that swallowed the last people I sent to study it, and everyone wants to congratulate the road."
