That startled her. Why shouldn’t they still be—

Ah, well, one more thing she didn’t understand. “Of course,” she said, warmly. “We’ve been together enough for me to know you’re one of the best friends I have.”

“Good.” They watched the silver moon creep higher into the sky. “You must be like my Sergeant back in the Harriers. Women, men, doesn’t matter, he’s always alone in his bunk and for all I can tell, he likes it that way. One Midwinter I watched him get roaring drunk, politely brush off girls that were literally hanging on his arms, and go to his bunk alone.” Jicks picked up a rock off the wall and threw it out into the darkness. “Well, maybe it’s all for the best. Messy things, love affairs. Worse when they get in the way of doing your job.”

Abi didn’t even have to think about that. Although it hadn’t affected her, or anyone in her circle of acquaintances, she remembered very well how messy things had gotten among the Bardic and Healer Trainees when love affairs had gone awry. And Brice was always getting his heart broken by girls he was attracted to when they paired up with someone else; he’d go moody and hard to work with, sometimes for more than a moon. If that kind of mess is routine, then I’m much happier being the way I am.

“I had no idea these hills were so beautiful,” she said, finally. And she sensed Jicks relax.

“Nights like this . . . I don’t even mind taking a watch.”

13

As Master Vance had predicted, spreading the word that there was a short-term and a long-term solution to the crossing problem led the people of the town to clamor for both. As work on the series of floating platforms began, so, too did work on the eventual stone bridge begin. In the case of the latter, the local stonemasons worked under the direction of Master Vance in building up the two piers that would eventually anchor the arch of the bridge. That meant building out along the riverbank as well as up—to guide floodwaters smoothly past the piers so they wouldn’t be washed out.

Abi and Master Padrick worked on the floating bridge, once Master Padrick had drawn up extremely detailed plans of how to build the scaffolding that would hold the arch in place until it was self-supporting with the addition of the keystones. That left Master Beyrn with nothing to do.

Finally, he approached the mayor himself, on one of the latter’s many visits to the riverbank. “Are there any dams around here that need inspecting?” he asked, a little desperately. “Any buildings that need reinforcement?”