southeasternterritories and the less prosperous lower lands in the west were onlysparsely settled. Furthermore, Camara, the smallest of Ylandresautonomous provinces, was not as populous as Velarus and even lessprogressive. Its folk were very insular and seldom strayed beyondtheir borders.Howlong before we reach Camara? Lassen asked.Mithreshrugged. Provided the highways were not heavily damaged lastwinter, I think a fortnight at most. He glanced at Lassen,wondering how he would take the constant swaying once they hit thesharply winding roads and rolling countryside that was characteristicof Camaras hilly interior. I made a space for you in the backshould you need to lie down.Lassensmiled. Thank you, Adda.Mithresmiled back and squeezed his sons hand reassuringly.ChapterSixteenPursuitDaelwent over the accounts once more. Perhaps Mithre was confident thathe and Lassen had enough funds to tide them over until they couldreturn at some Veres only knew point in the future. But Dael had tocheck for himself that his mate had calculated their needsaccurately. That it was his fourth pass through their bankingdocuments escaped him entirely.Itwas now almost two months since Mithre and Lassen left Tal Ereq. Inall that time, hed had just one letter from Mithre and it did notmention where they had finally settled. That was only to be expectedgiven the need for Dael to maintain real ignorance of theirwhereabouts. And he welcomed the assurance that they were hale andwhole. But it did not make their absence any easier to bear.Heheard the door to his small study open and half turned to see Yuilancome in. Surprised that his jewel smith son should visit him so earlyin the day, Dael started to ask why but stopped when he saw hisexpression. Dread overcame him to mirror the fear on the Yuilansface.Whatis it? Whats wrong? he asked, rising from his chair. Aba,the Ardan is here.Daelcaught his breath. Here? In Tal Ereq? In the front yard. Helooks positively furious. He asked about Lassen?Yes.And when I couldnt tell him anything other than that Lassen andAddaleft together, he ordered me to fetch you. Yuilan frowned. Aba,is it true? He said you didnt respond to his last letter.TheElder combed his fingers through his hair distractedly. I didntknow what to say, he admitted. He sent Lassen a letterunexpectedly just three weeks after they left. I was forced torespond and tell him that Lassen and Mithre were on their way toRikara and when they left town. He was terribly displeased thatLassen didnt inform him beforehand of his plans and he said so inhis next missive.Yuilanseyes widened. So if Rohyr knew when they left, he was expectingthem to arrive in Rikara by the end of last month at the latest.Precisely.And when they did not, he sent another letter. But all I could saywas that they had probably tarried along the way. After that, Ihadnt the faintest notion how to explain Lassens continuedtardiness.Perhapsyou should have just said you didnt know. He might not be so angrynow. Yuilan swallowed nervously. The way he stared at me... Doyou think he read my mind?Daelsbelly did a flip-flop. I dont know, he muttered. Nor do Iwant to.Hedrew a deep breath and headed downstairs. He stepped out