On day 1139, the local Marcher people called Keeps-the-Three-Runnels refused the first translation. It had used the wells’ seasonal approaches long before this meeting. Sera and Hona had reached Three Wells the previous evening with their clinic-and-supply team, after eight days on the booked road stages.
It did so by turning its immense head away from the resonator and placing one forelimb across the shallow channel that led toward the waystation. The movement was slow enough for the interpreters to clear the path. It was also unmistakable enough that no one needed a second opinion about whether the meeting had paused.
Pera lowered her mallet. She had left the Gate on day 1126 with the already-regional Reedglass carriers and reached the wells on day 1133, ahead of the heavier main caravan. “I may have given it the wrong distinction.”
“What distinction?” Iven asked.
“Passage and permission to repair the passage. I used the same pattern for both.”
Elian stood beside the stone resonator with his notebook open. He had written the first interpretation in pencil. Now he drew a line through it without tearing the page.
“Can you ask which part was wrong?” he said.
“Not by repeating the same pattern.” Pera looked toward a second interpreter, an older man named Oss. “Did you hear the interval before the refusal?”
