Rocked it!

"How does one live? By blood and brain and heart and guts. If these four can be kept, a man will live long. But, to save a life is not as simple as a bandage. To mend a fractured skull, or suture an eviscerated abdomen, or save a bleeding heart. The best redeemers work in the Imperial Arenas, and they are wonders upon the land." --Excerpt from the Introduction of Wounded in Arena Combat: Treatments by Hildquock Pasweh

"I work for the Gazette."

He frowned at her. "You were following me, after all."
She could feel the color rising on her neck, but she held his eyes. "Of course, but not for the reason you thought."
"And that makes all the difference! So what's your scoop?"
"Highseat County Press already scooped us. They proposed that your father's rail is merging with Westerly. Anyway, that's why I'm passaging on the Airelighter instead of taking the, frankly, quicker steamer--"
"But less luxurious--"
"Granted."
He surveyed the men around them, "My father didn't tell me about this. I'm to survey the lands about Westerly Bay and see what negotiations would it take to start our own line... from across the desert. But it's plausible... as a back-up he could just buy out Westerly. Not a merger exactly, but a merger of sorts."
"And Westerly's lords could stand to lose quite a bit."
"Exactly! You think like a capitalist! That's their game, though I wonder now what father's might be."
He looked thoughtful. " You said you'd be on a steamer? So I'm not the only story?"