RIDING WITH THE BEAST
We set out at dawn when the sky was still streaked with pale lavender and the valleys lay wrapped in thin silver mist. There were twelve of us: Kael, Silas, Lila, myself, and eight riders chosen by lot from every quarter of our lands — men and women who knew the high passes, the river crossings, the coastal paths and hidden valleys as well as they knew their own hearth stones. We carried no banners, no heavy armour, no orders to give or judgements to pass. We carried only packs with food and blankets, ink and parchment, measuring lines and rough charts, and the quiet promise that we would see every corner of what we called ours, and count every soul within it.
For generations, no ruler had ever ridden the full length of these lands. The keepers had travelled only be
