The soldier waved Mirelda through with the tight smile of someone who had been standing in the sun too long. She flicked the reins, and Prince and Tax Fraud lurched forward, hooves clattering against the packed dirt. The roadblock parted. The wagon rolled. Mirelda was already thinking about tea when the soldier dropped face-first into the road behind her. She pulled the goats to a stop and looked back. The iron gate with its carved forest symbols stood open behind her wagon. The soldier lay still. The other soldiers were staring at him, then at her wagon, then at each other with the same careful blankness they'd worn all afternoon. Mirelda counted to three. No one moved. She climbed down from the wagon, walked back to the fallen soldier, and nudged him gently with her boot. He groaned and rolled onto his back, blinking up at the sky. His hand was blistered. She followed his gaze to her wagon, where the candelabra sat visible through the open back flap, gleaming innocently in the afternoon light. The soldier's eyes widened. Mirelda sighed, offered him her hand, and pulled him to his feet. "You'll want cold water on that," she said. "And next time, don't lean on other people's baggage." She returned to her wagon, flicked the reins, and left the roadblock behind. Tea was still possible. Just slightly delayed. The road opened ahead of her, clear and quiet. Prince and Tax Fraud settled into their usual pace. Mirelda pulled the back flap closed and tucked it tight, hiding the candelabra from view. She would return it eventually. Just not today. Today she would find somewhere peaceful, sit down, and drink tea without anyone falling over. The wagon creaked forward. The roadblock and its soldiers faded behind her. She was, for the moment, nobody's problem. She reached back without looking and shifted the apple pie forward on its shelf. The crust was perfect, dusted with cinnamon and still warm. It hadn't been needed after all. The blackberry pie leaned harder to the left now, freed from the apple pie's weight against it. Mirelda watched it in the corner of her eye. It would fall or it wouldn't. Either way, she'd have tea first.