A wounded swordsman walks out of the forest at dusk and is taken in by Claire, who lives alone at the treeline. She feeds him, cuts the bolt-head out of his flank, and asks the one question he can't dodge — where the road he came down is going. His answer seals the night: the south road is closing, and nobody else is coming her way. By morning the road is shut behind him, his medallion is on her table, and a rider is watching the cabin.
