The guild leader chose a room overlooking the training yard.
Below the windows, members were hauling a disabled winch toward a covered bench. One person directed the movement while another watched the wheels. Eli could hear the shouted counts through the glass. The guild possessed an ordinary competence he needed. It would have been easier if the need did not arrive so plainly before the conversation began.
The leader had read the corrected figures. He had also brought the original estimate, folded beside them.
“You’ve made the requirement considerably harder.”
“We found that it was harder,” Juno said.
She had joined them because the leader wanted to discuss equipment. Tessa stood beside the envoy. The independent commander had placed her route assessment on the table but kept the unreliable approach clearly marked. Eli sat where he could see the door and the people across from it.
The leader tapped the smaller current estimate.
“You need several sites of this capacity.”
