Re-l was still feeling angry, but it didn't interfere with her common sense, and she looked to her left.

"Not much," she said, and began shuffling again. She reached the end of the ledge with a sigh, stand up straight and shaking out her nerveless arms. From here the path climbed gently up, and though she couldn't see over the closest ridge, she was certain they were at the top.

Standing on solid ground, close to her goal drained away a lot of Re-l's anger, at which point it became obvious why Gabriel had been so idiotic. She ran a hand over her face, wiping away the sweat, and if it brushed her eyes, well there had been sweat on her eyelashes too, no doubt.

"That was clever," she said. "I'm not saying I liked it, but it was clever."

And she smiled.