The carrier reached Ember Wash on the afternoon of day 1281, four travel days after loading at Sosna Brell’s mill.
The new return still ran outside the houses. The cooling frame still made its measured rain. Verit stood beside the receiving gauge with her assistant, not waiting for Iven to take her handle. Idri came down from the gallery after finishing the change-of-shift reading. Their first question concerned the actual packing, its batch sheets and the price.
Tavin put the four protected rolls on the dry table. Two came from the archive receiving crews’ released allocation; two came from Sosna’s independently tested batch. Neither source became safer because it had won an argument. The material had to match the duty for which the town accepted it.
Dey checked the section and the certificates. Jori compared the new stock with the maker’s samples. Lessa accepted the immediate reserve at the actual higher cost, including the extra high-road stage. She read Venn’s larger registration offer and left it for the owners’ next separate discussion. Buying these four rolls had not signed it by accident.
The four leased pack animals went to the North Tally carrier pool’s authorized Ember Wash receiving partner. The two handlers were paid for the road, the ambush delay and the protected rest. Their animals would be rested and cared for before the owner’s next ordinary freight assignment; nobody claimed they had already returned to North Tally because their loads were off.
