Ash drifted across the checkpoint threshold while the older sentry nursed a canteen beside the brazier, saying nothing at all. The authorized pair stayed inside past the sunrise quarantine order, and no ordinary traveler got one step past the rail.
The younger sentry kept glancing at the quarantine order nailed up behind his partner's shoulder.
His hand stayed locked on the spear as the question finally escaped him, "Do you think they're coming back?"
"I don't know," his partner grunted, lowering the canteen without drinking, "better-equipped teams went deeper than that pair, and all they left us was questions."
'Ask it now, while somebody can still answer without explaining why a body never came back.'
"We read the seal, both of us, and we never once asked if he knew what this morning's notice said." The younger sentry jabbed a finger at the posted order.
"He carried a personal royal writ, so I figured the Crown sent somebody who knew exactly why this sector was closed."
