I lost him in the rain, but he’s still not that close to the Clynya road.” Eldiren gave the reins a little flick to encourage his mount to continue at a fast walk. “Do you think that Yurka will catch him?” The sub-officer’s voice was low, deferential. “The way things are going, Yurka will probably reach the crossroads before he does. The path the engineer’s taking is actually longer and slower than either main road.” Eldiren laughed. “That’s why Fairhaven builds roads. That’s why the Blacks’ own great Creslin insisted on highways on Recluce…and this poor engineer hasn’t learned the lesson yet.” “What are you going to do with him?” “Yurka? Nothing. He won’t catch the engineer.” “He won’t? I mean the engineer, Ser.” “The engineer will sense Yurka and his troops and head back along the crossroad he got too impatient to wait for and should have taken.”
