KONRAD SPENT SOME time back at the farm, and when he returned he was carrying a basket of mixed vegetables and a slab of meat wrapped in fine silk. After he had started a good fire, he took one of their cooking pots aside and started chopping and mixing. Nobody bothered him, and he acted as though he were camping on his own. With everything chopped and the pot starting to bubble above the fire, he ventured out into the field, heading for a marshy area in one corner, head down as he searched for a mix of herbs.

“I haven't seen him add the dust yet,” Nomi said.

“He does it so none of us can see,” Beko said. “Probably rolled the meat across the farmyard with his boot.”

“Well, at least we'll know where it came from.”

Beko had come to sit beside Nomi when Ramus stood and went for a walk. Nomi had watched her companion pass beyond the influence of the campfire, and now he was visible only as a shadow out in the field.

“He's a quiet one,” Beko said.

“Ramus? I suppose he is.” She felt a brief flush of defensiveness, but it soon filtered away. Ramus was his own man and could defend himself.

“Is it him who wants to keep our destination secret?”

“It's caution, Beko, not secrecy. We don't want the wrong people hearing about this.”

“You mean the Guild of Voyagers? Why are they the wrong people?”

Nomi was silent for a while, considering the question. Finally she said, “I think Ramus would best answer that. I'm here for the adventure, the discovery and the glory. I'll make no pretense about that. Ramus is here for something far deeper.”

“Deeper than discovery?”

“His own discovery. He set himself a challenge when he started voyaging, and that was to become the greatest Voyager of them all.”

“Quite a challenge. And quite a thing to tell someone.”

Nomi laughed softy. “He's never actually told me that. But that's what his life is all about. I take pleasure in discovery, and if it can also earn my way through life, I'll take that too. Ramus has always looked down on me for that.”

“Ventgorian wine tastes just as good, even though you make a little money from it,” Beko said. He started sharpening a knife on a bladestone, a cool, smooth sound which Nomi found almost sensual.

“It does,” she said. “But for Ramus, voyaging is his calling, his destiny. He thinks I cheapen it.”

“And you call him your friend.”

“Ramus is much more than just a friend.”

“Oh.”

Nomi glanced at the Serian captain, surprised by the suddenly lowered tone of his voice. A dozen responses came to mind, but the one she uttered surprised her even more. “It's never been like that. It never will.”

Beko looked at her briefly, then went back to sharpening his knife.