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were wondering if maybe a guide would be
cheaper.’
    ‘Charts of the
Unstable are expensive. Mapmakers like my father risk their
lives six months in every year to map the Unstable. But these
stability maps hardly need much updating because of the Rule. Look,
if you’d like some advice, I’ll tell you what I think. Don’t go
direct to Drumlin. Go to Kte Marlede’s Shrine first. That’s just
about an hour’s walk off the main road, and you turn off just forty
minutes or so from Kibbleberry.’ Keris pointed to the shrine on the
map. ‘Here, see? It’s an obligatory one. There’s a chantist
hostelry there if you want it, or you can camp in the field for a
small fee. It’s where the Knighte begged forgiveness from the Maker
for her previous disbelief. She wasn’t a sworn Knighte of Chantry
then of course. You can still see the melted rocks where the Maker
sent down His warning… It’s a beautiful place with a river, just
the place to rest after your journey, to make your peace with the
Maker for your past sins. What better way to start a
pilgrimage?’
    Cosey sighed.
‘It sounds lovely. I’m so tired.’
    ‘Drumlin, on
the other hand, is a day and a half’s ride from Kibbleberry,’ Keris
added. ‘If you go to Kte Marlede’s instead, then you can go on to
the second obligatory shrine, here. That’s Kt Gallico’s. And then
the third here. After that, you have to decide whether to take this
route here—’ her finger traced a pathway across the map ‘—which
takes in five minor shrines, all in Taggart’s Wood, or stay on the
main route to Kte Felmina’s. The deviation rejoins the main path
here. There are several other detours like that further on.
Eventually you will arrive in Drumlin from the north. It’s the
route most pilgrims take.’
    Cosey turned
to her husband. ‘Jax, let’s do that.’
    He squared his
shoulders. ‘All right. We’ll take this map. I dunno about the
other, though.’
    Keris smiled.
‘Look, I shouldn’t say this, but you’ll be able to buy a used one
in the city for a few coppers from a pilgrim about to return to his
or her own stability. You may even be able to sell this one just
before you leave, although that may be more difficult because most
people will already have bought it here on their way into the
stab.’
    The man began
to look happier. ‘That’s a good idea.’ He dug into the pouch around
his neck and produced a silver.
    Keris rolled
up the map and fastened it with its attached ribbon. ‘There you go.
May the peace of Creation be yours on your journey.’ She signed a
kinesis of farewell.
    ‘Thank you,’
Cosey said, as her hands fluttered the reply. ‘You are nice—I feel
better about being on pilgrimage already.’
    She watched
them from the doorway while they remounted and rode away, then
turned to pick up the coin from the counter. She hesitated a
moment, then slipped the silver into her apron pocket.
    From the next
room a weak voice asked, ‘Have they gone?’
    ‘Yes, Mama,
they’ve gone.’ She went into the main room of the house, the
kitchen, where her mother was lying on a bed under the window, well
wrapped in spite of the day’s warmth. Only her face, tired and
pale, and her thin white hands moving restlessly on the
much-patched cover, were visible.
    ‘Your father
would say you threw away the sale of the second map.’
    She nodded,
unrepentant. ‘They were farming people without much money. We don’t
need their silver.’ She made an impatient gesture with one hand.
‘Riding their plough horses, poor souls. They won’t get their knees
together for a year once they’ve got home. And—obedient to the
Rule—the wife has already changed back into a skirt which can’t be
comfortable to wear while riding such a beast.’
    ‘Now,
Keris—’
    She didn’t let
her mother finish. ‘It’s nonsense that they’re here anyway, risking
their lives crossing the Unstable. For what?’
    ‘For the good
of their souls, dear.’
    ‘But why
should