The Alder border began where the road stopped accepting Crown stones, and a living hedge blocked the wagons beneath pale morning light.
Eirwen stepped down first, twelve Shards resting around her shoulders, and raised one hand toward the hedge's narrow bark face.
She said, "This is treaty land, so my authority leads until the last boundary pillar, and Hajin's lordship doesn't cross ahead of mine."
Hajin stopped beside the refusal socket case and replied, "The socket remains in my custody, but the road's law is yours while we travel it."
Hajin watched one green eye open in the hedge and thought, 'The border asks who speaks before strength,' resting his hand on the wagon rail, 'so this is our first honest test.'
The bark split across a narrow face, and green light moved over the stones without touching the wagons or the waiting animals.
The border said, "Name the travelers, because no road can carry people it hasn't agreed to recognize."
