The column left the waystation in the early afternoon under a high, hard sky. Dust rose in thin sheets behind the horses and settled again almost at once.
Kaelara set a steady pace, neither rushed nor leisurely, the kind that ate distance without announcing urgency. The residual monitors stayed flat. The road stretched south, open and empty for as far as the eye could reach.
By the second hour the parallel tracks were no longer parallel.
The scouts rode in pairs, one pair on each flank, rotating back every half-hour with terse reports. The unknown riders had adjusted.
They were angling inward now, closing the lateral gap at a measured rate that suggested they knew exactly how far the temple escort could see and how fast it could react. Kaelara listened without changing expression.
