Mara reached Riven Gate late on day 1098 with dust inside her collar and every measuring case still on the freight list.
Sennat Ul read the final receiving marks before releasing the loads. Thirty travel days from Caldrin. About two hundred and sixty kilometers with the tools: sixteen days to Harp, fourteen more on the accepted onward stage. The road had held within its estimate, which did not mean the people walking it had found every hill reasonable.
Rav Vell sat on a stone while Hona Set checked the sample rack’s cover. The little wooden fish from Harp still hung inside the personal compartment. It had survived the final road better than the heel of Rav’s left boot.
Neri came through the receiving yard carrying a current appointment sheet.
For a moment Mara saw the technical visit first: named room, paid arrival interval, a work scope to be examined in the morning. Then Neri put the sheet down and embraced her.
Mara held on longer than she had meant to.
“You’re here,” Neri said.
“With the cases.”
