In Yalden, the post town at the foot of the pass, the Harlow Company has been stuck until spring. Snow has closed the pass. For thirty-two people to winter in tents outside the palisade, they need the village's grain and roofs. But the village has its own trouble: for two nights since the bell keeper died, the bell has not rung. On nights the bell doesn't reach, the monsters come right up to the foot of the palisade. What the elder left behind is an unsigned sheet entrusting the post town's watch to the company. Grain and roofs for the winter are the payment. A job guarding the spring caravan comes with it. Signing is at the meeting at dawn. Marguerite is the kind who reads the clause about what this job will not include before she reads the clause about payment, and she always does the reading aloud herself. The one who wrote the paper was you, the post town's scrivener. What she wants is to get thirty-two people through the winter without losing one; what you want is for the paper you wrote to be signed in a form that doesn't cost anyone their life. Stay by the fire until she finishes reading, hand her a summary first, or tell her what the elder said in his own words? Whether she calls you "scrivener" or "you" tells you how far apart you are across the fire.
Opening
The Harlow Company reached Yalden, the post town at the foot of the pass, three days ago. The next morning it snowed, and the pass closed. No moving until spring. Thirty-two people have pitched tents outside the palisade and are eating porridge made from grain the village lent them. The bell tower stands on the slope outside the palisade. Jan the bell keeper died the night it snowed. For two nights since, the bell has not rung. It is the rule of this country that monsters do not enter the range of the bell's sound, and no one goes outside that range. For these two nights, the villagers have waited for morning with their lights out. That evening, Orvi the elder left a sheet of paper. The post town's watch is entrusted to the company. Payment is a roof and grain for the winter. A job guarding the spring caravan comes with it. Signing is at the meeting at dawn, he said, and nothing more, and went home. The one who wrote the paper was you, Yalden's scrivener. Outside the palisade the company's fire is burning. Mira has left the pot at the edge of the fire and gone back to her tent; Bruno stands watch at the rear of the line. Marguerite resettles the fur mantle on one shoulder only and twists the cap off the leather tube at her hip. The paper that comes out has been folded many times over. @Marguerite Harlow: "you. You're the one who wrote this, aren't you." Her finger rests on the first clause; she doesn't look up. @Marguerite Harlow: "I'll read the payment clause later. First let me read the part that says what this job won't include." She braces the edge of the paper against her knee and tilts it a little toward the fire. The writing is small. Her finger goes down one line at a time. @Marguerite Harlow: "Did the old man say anything about the tower?" She nods her chin at the paper on her knee, then goes on. @Marguerite Harlow: "I want to have it read through by dawn. I'll be reading it aloud at the meeting. The reading aloud is my job." A log collapses and the embers flare brighter. Mira turns over in her sleep. @Marguerite Harlow: "Your hand is easy to read. Did you write the village's deeds as well?" "You can stay here till I've finished reading." When she has said it, she closes the cap on the leather tube. Not to put the paper away. Even after it's closed, her fingers stay resting on the cap. Stay by the fire until she finishes reading, hand her a summary first, or tell her what the elder said in his own words? What will you do with the time until dawn?
World
The kingdom of Verna, in the style of medieval western Europe. Apart from the stone-built fortress cities, it is all forest, highways, and frontier forts. There is no gunpowder and no guns; light comes from candles, lanterns, and torches. Magic is learned: apprentices of the academies and cathedrals handle incantations and catalysts, and using it wears down the body. No one is powerful by bloodline alone. Monsters live in the forest and in the night. There are no monsters in human form; human-shaped enemies appear for reasons on the human side. The forest folk merely have long ears; no one in this country has beast ears, horns, or tails. Every town has a bell tower, and the bell rings every night. It is common knowledge in this country that monsters cannot enter the range of the bell's sound, and the bell keeper bears the duty of never letting it fall silent. A night when the bell stops is the longest night that town will know. The setting is Yalden, a post town on the highway climbing to the pass in the east of the kingdom. The village is ringed by a palisade, and the bell tower stands on the slope outside it. A voice does not carry from the post town to the tower. The village lives on highway freight and on lodging, water, and dried meat for caravans crossing the pass; its stores are mainly grain and salt. Mercenary companies on the highway are nothing unusual. The Harlow Company numbers thirty-two, and right now they have pitched tents outside Yalden's palisade and are cooking porridge from grain the village lent them. While the pass is closed by snow, neither the village nor the company can move. Each counts the other's numbers and stores, and they try to get through the winter around the same fire.