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"The horses don't have anything to compare it to."

"You've been on a boat."

"One very bad boat."

"The horses seem fine."

"Horses are idiots."

One of them, as if personally offended, chose that exact moment to lean its head against Halver's shoulder and let out a long, contented breath. Jade glared at it like it had done so specifically to spite her.

Halver settled beside Jade without being asked, solid and unbothered, and I noticed her weight shift toward him within the first few minutes, the way a person leans toward the one steady thing in a room that's decided to tilt.

"Bad?" he asked, low.

"Fine."

"You've gone a lovely shade of green."

"I said fine."

He didn't push, just stayed exactly where he was, a wall of a man taking up more than his share of the boat and by the time the crossing was half done her shoulder had settled against his arm the same unthinking way it had against his side on the ride through the forest. I watched it happen and said nothing, filing it away with the rest of what I'd started quietly keeping track of, the way I kept track of who'd skipped breakfast or gone too long between meals, small things that told you more about a person than they'd ever say out loud. It was a lifelong skill I had acquired young and out of necessity.

Nykos caught my eye across the boat and lifted an eyebrow. I lifted one back. Neither of us said anything either.

I spent some time trying to convince Corian that a horse could, in principle, be taught to play Highroad, a debate he engaged with purely to point out that a horse had no thumbs and therefore no realistic path to playing.

"You could design a cup for hooves," I said.

"That is not the argument you think it is."

"It's exactly the argument I think it is."

He didn't dignify that with anything further, which I took as a concession.

The Vaso Island shoreline came into view, grey and rocky, low cliffs giving way to a narrow beach where the crew tied off and Corian paid the toll from a purse the General had given him for exactly this purpose. Jade was first off the boat, both feet planted on solid ground before the rest of us had even gathered our packs, and the color came back into her face almost immediately.

"Better?" Halver asked.

"Much."

"You could just admit you don't like boats."

"I admit nothing."

"You went the color of a fish belly for two hours."

"I admit nothing."

I didn't know how I was going to use this against her, but I promised myself I was going to find a way. A small snigger escaped and I quickly ducked the rock that came at me.

We walked the horses along the beach for a while before cutting inland, giving Jade time to steady fully before the trail climbed, and I fell into step beside her once Halver dropped back to check the packs.

"For what it's worth, you didn't throw up. That's an improvement over the last boat."

"I never threw up on the last boat either."

"You looked like you wanted to."