Swamped

It occurs to you that, with the Postmaster gone for the night, there's no one to unlock the crow's cage. Which means the letter would be just sitting there, where you could grab it at any time after she leaves.

Of course, if you just get out of her way, she might realize that and then who knows what she'll do. So you might as well play it honestly.

"What's your rush?" you say. "That letter's not going anywhere until morning, whether you leave it there now or not. Unless you've gone and swiped the Postmaster's keys."

"Damn! You're right," she grumbles. "It might not get there in time. And that's just going to make everything more complicated."

"In time for what?"

"Never mind! Will you just quit bothering me already?"

She definitely doesn't want to talk about the letter.

"Well, I was just thinking that if this letter is important enough, it might be worth waking up the Postmaster so he can send it tonight. But if I don't know anything about what it is, well, I'm not going to risk getting him angry."

"If I were going to do that, I'd just ask him myself."

"You could, but I know him better than you do. In fact, I have a favor I was doing for him. It'd go better if you had me vouching for you."

She goes silent.

"By the way, those are some very nice boots. Where did you get them? And how do you keep them so clean when there's so much mud everywhere?"

Elize lets out a sigh.

"My mother's a shoemaker. I was planning to be one, too, until I heard the damn call. So we made this pair together and then I headed out to the swamp. It's got a special coating on it that the muck doesn't stick to very well."

"You did an excellent job."

"So everyone says. I'd really rather not talk about them, though. I get asked about them a lot."

"You could just not wear them, then."

"I didn't say I didn't like them. I just don't like repeating the story to every busybody I run into."

Now that just stings.

"So are you sending your mother a letter, then?"

"No, and what do you care? It's just a letter."

"A letter that you're in a hurry to send, apparently while hoping no one sees you sending it."

She goes quiet again.

"This isn't something illegal, is it?"

"Not in most kingdoms," she says. Then she sighs deeply. "Just back home."

You take a glance at the sign on the cage. You haven't actually seen it yet.

It says "KANDRIA". That explains a lot.

So. Where do you go from here?