The survey site sat on low ground east of the camp, marked at its corners by stakes driven into the earth before the full freeze came in. The cordwood and stone stacked at the southern edge was as far as the prisoner labor had gotten before the ground locked solid.
A blueprint on felt, the stakes, the stacked material. That was what winter had permitted.
The rest waited for the thaw.
Batu was looking at the site plan with one of Khulgen's deputies when the rider came in from the southern perimeter at the measured pace of a man delivering something formal.
The outer fold carried Ogedei's seal.
Batu took it and read the outer fold without breaking the seal, confirming what the mark had already told him. Then he broke it and read the contents once through.
When he looked up, Siban was crossing the frozen ground from the camp's direction.
He was carrying a document with the same outer fold.
