At the Second Gate

Sela Orr issued these instructions for the escort bringing grain into Reed Ward. They give you only what you can know before delivering the sealed report.

Reed Ward has one reduced grain ration left to distribute, and the carts are still outside. Your job is to escort the marked load and deliver Iven Tal’s report comparing two cargo gates to Sela. The report is closed beneath a house seal; its outer cord names Sela Orr of Reed Ward as the first person to receive it. She has not yet received it, and you have no open report to consult.

Pera Sai stands with one hand on the marked lead cart. Her working group promised this grain to Reed Ward Store. That promise specifies the load and who must receive it, but leaves the choice of gate open. Pera says she feels pressure gathering around the promised grain. She refuses to guess aloud about its cause.

You can reach the ward by either of two routes. Ordinary traffic is already passing through the surface gate. The other route runs through the old understore beneath the paving. Daro Venn is down there with its keys and counterweight stop. Your instructions give you no authority to require him to open it.

The marked load remains in someone else’s ownership while you escort it. If anyone issues a new order, stops the delivery, or changes its route, keep a record of what changed and who directed it. Your charge does not let you open a gate, change the load or recipient specified by Pera’s promise, waive a levy, or surrender Reed Ward’s claim.

Reed Ward owes you the agreed food, pay, and ordinary support for injury. Work beyond the escort agreement, or damage to borrowed equipment, must be recorded in a signed claim returned to Sela and to the person whose property was damaged or whose body bore the cost.

Above the gate, the rope moves for the first bell. Daro still has the keys below. The cord around Iven Tal’s comparison remains uncut.

Continue to The Grain at Two Gates, or return to Magic and Miracles or Kalsa.