The first course rose from both banks.
Neri watched the two crews work toward the curve’s center, each accepted stone settling against its neighbor on the timber centering. Oda’s joint marks faced outward where the masons could read them. The temporary walkway carried only the current builders, one controlled load at a time.
By noon on day fifteen hundred and twenty-eight, the broken span had acquired the beginning of an arch.
It looked too low to carry what Neri intended for it. Seen from above, the curve hid its depth. She went down to the sighting platform and looked along the bearing faces. There the line became clear: weight passing through stone into stone, turning toward the sound ground at either bank.
Pev waited until she lowered the instrument.
“Same reading?”
“Same.”
“Then feed the masons. They keep looking at me as though I can shorten the afternoon.”
