Kael
The bowl had a chip in its rim.
I noticed because the keeper turned that side away from the edge of the desk before setting down her book.
After six days of protected roads, river passages, careful loading and increasingly personal disagreements with a cart seat, I had expected the sanctuary boundary to look harder to cross.
There was a covered post, a low barrier and a broad wooden bowl.
There were also guards in places I had nearly overlooked.
That part made more sense.
The keeper checked our names against the notice sent ahead.
Elara waited beside the route leader.
Her request had reached the receiving office. That allowed the keeper to find the right entry without sending someone elsewhere to ask why we had arrived.
It did not open the barrier.
The keeper read the entry and placed a small marker beside our names. Elara waited while she checked the expected number against the people standing at the post.
