"Yes, your Highness," Magnus said calmly.

"And there are dozens of them," Tavi said. "In this section of coastline alone."

"Just so, your Highness."

"But that would mean . . ." Tavi shook his head slowly. "Magnus. That would mean that the Canim civilization is dozens of times larger than our own--hundreds of times larger."

"Yes, your Highness," Magnus said.

Tavi stared down at the map, shaking his head slowly. "And we never knew?"

"The Canim have guarded their coastline quite jealously over the centuries," Magnus said. "Fewer than a dozen Aleran ships have ever visited their shores-and those have only been allowed to dock at a single port, a place by the name of Marshag. No Aleran has ever been permitted off of the docks-and returned to tell about it, at any rate."

Tavi shook his head. "What about furycrafting? Have we never sent Knights Aeris to overfly it?"

"The range of any flyer is limited. A Knight Aeris could fly perhaps two or three hundred miles and back, but they could hardly expect to do so unobserved-and as we saw subsequent to the Night of the Red Stars, the Canim do possess the ability to counter our flyers." Magnus shrugged, and smiled faintly. "Then, too, it has been speculated that our furycrafting abilities would be significantly reduced, so far from Alera, and our furies' points of origin. It is possible that a Knight Aeris would not be able to fly at all."

"But no one's ever thought to test it?" Tavi asked.

"The ships that have sailed there have all been couriers and merchantment." Magnus flashed Tavi a swift smile. "Besides. Can you imagine the Citizen who would want to rush off to the domain of the Canim amidst a crowd of rude sailors, only to find out that he is just as powerless as they?"