Elara
Valeria's first mark ran through the tree Elara wanted to keep.
Elara looked from the charcoal line on the sketch to the pale trunk beyond the barrier.
"That one is alive."
"I can see the leaves."
"Its roots hold the upper bank."
Valeria turned the board toward her.
"And these branches hang over the approach."
They stood beneath the watch shelter while the local work keeper waited with two of his crew. Beyond them, the drake moved somewhere below the raised roots. A guard called the change in its position to the next post.
Nobody at the shelter mistook the quiet for safety.
The guards continued calling from post to post while the board rested between Elara and Valeria. A change in the drake's position interrupted the discussion even when neither woman could see it through the roots.
