“I’m inclined to go with a modified version of your reason for why the place was drowned,” Stev replied from behind her.

“Oh? What’s that?”

“Those things were too tough to knock down and spoiled the view so badly the only thing to be done with them was drown them. And their Artificers, so they could never build an abomination like that again.”

Abi had to laugh.

14

“Frankly, I expected more whining,” Beyrn said to Abi, as their little caravan left the town, heading eastward, paralleling the Border with Valdemar. “The only thing we finished was the floating bridge.”

“Plenty of distractions, I suspect,” she replied, holding back her hinny so he could ride up alongside her. “Someone pointed out that all that drying mud is probably the best soil for miles around, and now besides wanting to crawl through those ruins looking for treasure, the farmers all want to spread cartloads of the mud on their land. They’re already turning everything they can into a cart.”

“Huh.” Beyrn blinked. “Is that going to do any good?”

“Probably quite a lot,” she told him. “The land around here is poor. That’s why you don’t see the kinds of huge farms and fields of grain you do up near Haven. Buckwheat will grow here, and oats, and some vegetables, but it all takes manuring and a lot of tending. Whether or not people find anything in those ruins, that lake soil is pure gold. And I’m sure all the dead fish left behind will help matters.”

“I thought you always lived on the Hill!” the young Master exclaimed. “How did you learn about farming?”

“Keeping my ears open,” she said with a straight face. “Our fellow Trainees of all three Collegia come from all over Valdemar. All you have to do is listen and you learn a lot.” Then something occurred to her. “If you don’t know anything about farming, how did you know that dam was about to fail?”

Beyrn colored. “Dams are my life,” he muttered, as if he thought she was going to make fun of him.

“And I’m beginning to think bridges are mine,” she replied cheerfully. “Just think, if these people do decide they want Valdemar’s protection, you could come back here to Ellistown and give them something better, and be the one to personally direct the construction.”

She might have told him that his true love was waiting around the next bend. He just lit up with a rare smile. “That’s true, isn’t it?” he said. But before he could say anything more, Jicks joined them.

“What’s our next stop?” Abi asked. “And how far is it?”