The Sovereign Record bird struck the windowsill at the seventh hour, the way Alistair had counted on it doing.
He had waited two days for it. The Record's continental coverage ran on a schedule, and the dispatches that carried the Oasis of Grain reached Verissan at the seventh hour of every third day, so he had been at the window before the light turned, watching the courtyard.
At the same time, the innkeeper made her morning round below.
He took the parchment off the sill before she finished sweeping.
Then he sat at the table and read.
The continental section ran longer today than it had the morning he left, and all of Sun Harvest's three lines were good ones.
The Record reported that the faction had registered Frument's alliance with the Echelon clerk in Therasia's arbitration office, and that the clerk had accepted it without challenge.
It reported no military activity on the Oasis perimeter across the preceding ten days.
