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"We're walking."

"Then walk slower."

He walked slower, which told me more about how bad it actually was than any complaint would have. Jade held out two fingers toward his temple, an offer rather than a demand, and waited.

"Yes," Nykos said, before she had to ask. "Please."

She pressed her fingers to his temple then, and within a minute the tight line around his eyes had eased.

"Thank you," he said, grudging.

"You're welcome."

"I hate that you're always right about this."

"You could just tell me when it starts instead of waiting until you're squinting at trees."

We crossed a stream not long after, narrow but fast enough to make the footing tricky, and Halver crossed first, then turned and simply held out a hand for Jade rather than let her pick her own way over the slick stones. She took it without the half-second hesitation she gave most offers of help, which was its own kind of detail worth noticing, and he steadied her over the last stretch with a grip that stayed a beat longer than the crossing required before he let go.

Small things. I added it to the pile anyway. I was still unsure or unwilling to admit why I was filing this information away.

The dice came out on the third night, mostly because Jade confiscated my knife sharpening kit after I put a burr in the blade a second time and told me to find something else to do with my hands.

"Highroad," I said, dropping the worn leather cup in front of Jade. "Bone dice, three of them. Roll high, roll matching, or roll the Road itself, three sixes, and you win outright. Everything else is just building toward one of those."

"That's not a complicated game."

"It's a travel game. It's supposed to be simple enough to play half asleep."

She turned the cup over in her hands, testing the weight of it, running one thumb along the worn leather seam the way she checked the balance on a new knife before trusting it. "Fine. Teach me how to bet."

I taught her how to bet. It took four rounds and considerably more patience than I usually had for anything.

She beat me twice before the fire burned low, both times on rolls so lucky I accused her of cheating before I'd finished counting the dice, and both times she looked at me with an expression so blank I couldn't tell if she was offended or just enjoying watching me struggle.

"I don't know how to cheat at this."

"That's exactly what a cheater would say."

"I've played this game for one evening."

"Beginner's luck is a real phenomenon and I hate it specifically."

Halver, sharpening something across the fire, didn't look up. "She won fairly."

"Nobody asked you."

"I'm agreeing with her unprompted. That should worry you more."

Jade's mouth curved at that, quick and real, and she scooped her winnings, four copper coins and my dignity, into a neat pile beside her knee.

"Again," she said.

"Absolutely not. I have a reputation."

"Had," Nykos said from his bedroll, eyes closed, not even bothering to open them.

I threw a twig at him. He didn't move. I decided that counted as a win of my own and let it go.