Mara Venn’s cart arrived before noon with dried herbs and a tired horse. The main gate was still blocked by tax guards. Two of them stepped toward the road as the wheels stopped.
“I can take the load back to market,” Mara said. “I won’t lose my family’s license over a delivery.”
Yan looked at the baskets. “I could carry them across the wall.”
Bai shook his head. “The wall is watched. You’d leave the cart unattended and turn the delivery into a public challenge.”
Mara rested one hand on the horse’s neck. “I came because the clinic needs the herbs. I can’t risk my stall to make a point.”
Han asked her to walk the lower path with her. They left the cart with Bai and followed the orchard wall until a track bent down toward the neutral village. The slope was steep and the stonework uneven. At two points, the path narrowed beside a ditch.
“This will take a full cart?” Yan asked.
“If the axle is sound,” Mara said. “The heavy crates have to come off first. I’ve driven this road in dry weather, not after rain.”
