It was truly a shame since they had almost made it the entire way to the border without incident. Even getting their gold past most scrutinizing eyes had been easy enough. The border closure meant there was a market for smuggling goods across, even if it was still in its infancy. There were always some guard posts whose stalwart sentinels figured they could do with an extra lining to their pockets. Jacques had schmoozed his way into the seedier dens of the towns they had passed to get a hang of the local situation, finding out who to talk to, where to go, and when to move the goods. A few greased hooves were all it took, and Jacques had a clear path across the border. Handy's job was to go across and give the griffon counterparts on the far side their cut so Jacques could get through unmolested.