Tal began each day with her run, using the exercise as a means of exploring every corner of the Opah holding. After mornmeal, she worked in the fields with the Opah family and their workers. She listened to the spare conversation of people who had known each other for a lifetime, and found herself wondering about the richness of detail that was absent from their words but plainly present in their memories. At one time or another, each member of the Opah family contrived to work next to her. She enjoyed her conversations with all of them except Herot, who reminded her of a first-cycle warrior who hadn’t yet had his ego deflated to the proper size. Salomen’s arrogance at least had a reasonable source: she was intelligent, determined, and accomplished. Herot just thought he was. Upon ending her daily field work, Tal became the Lancer again, reading dispatches and reports, consulting with her advisors, and making the thousand decisions that rested in her hands.
