The boat moved through the water as quietly as a mourning dove in winter. Sasha stared over its bow at the sunrise. Neither of the men had said much to her, not since the sun had fallen and they'd returned to their boat, carrying strings laden with dead animals. It seemed they were content to transport her without much question, and for that Sasha was grateful, and not just because she was tired.

She'd helped them break camp, and in exchange they'd shared bits of the rabbit they'd caught earlier that evening. Now it seemed like empty comfort, because her stomach was trying to claw its way through her abdomen. She folded her arms across it and let her eyes go to the horizon.

"How far is Alegria?" she asked. They'd only been on the water a few hours, and from what they'd said before it would be at least a day. How they intended to travel into the middle of the ocean in such a small ship was something Sasha couldn't fathom. She could only picture the types of storms her father's friends had discussed while drinking around the fireplace, back when she was still too small to interrupt.

"We can get there by sunrise tomorrow, if we shift who sleeps when," Thomas said. Sasha rested her chin on her hand and tried not to look too disappointed. She still didn't know whether she wanted to speed their arrival or put off the inevitable for a little while longer. 

She needed to get Rannok out. She wouldn't be sticking around after that. She needed to remind herself of that, that he wasn't what she'd hoped. She had to make it be okay. A new lump made its way up Sasha's throat, and she swallowed hard.

"You didn't tell us much about yourself," Ferdinand said. He scratched his beard, then pulled one of the oars around in the water. The boat lurched to the side before continuing on its course down the river. Sasha's stomach twirled. "Sorry, don't want to hit any floating branches."

"It's fine," Sasha murmured, shutting her eyes for just a second. She could feel the dark circles underneath them, evidence of how well she'd slept last night. She hadn't been able to shake the feeling of crawling, of someone watching her do it. She still couldn't. Sleeping meant she was vulnerable. She didn't want that. "My parents ran an inn in Horizon."

"Hm," Ferdinand paused for a moment. His hand lifted a bit off the oar before he put it down again. "I don't know what you intend to do when you get to Alegria. It's not as if you have any money to stay somewhere."

Sasha felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise, and her hands clenched. She lifted her chin from her palm and turned toward Ferdinand. "I know that. But I need to help my friend. He was taken. I am going to get him back, and then I'm going to leave. So unless you have a way to help me--"

Sasha's mouth shut. She didn't know. She hadn't planned this ar ahead. She'd lost feeling of the crow hours ago, and her plan for when she got to the island had so far consisted of making it up as she went along.

But Ferdinand was right. She had no money and no place to stay. His expression did not change. His dark eyes washed over her for a moment, like he expected her to jump over the side of the boat. Sasha froze.

"He was taken," the man said, before looking back over the front of the boat. An uncomfortable silence descended over the boat, and Sasha wished at once she hadn't opened her mouth. Ferdinand's eyes hardened. The boy gave him a soft, admonishing look. It didn't do anything to soften his gaze. "It sounds to me like your friend is a thief. Perhaps he shouldn't have taken what didn't belong to him if he didn't want to be indebted."

"He was trying to--" She swallowed again, arms clutching around her midsection, trying to keep her composure. He'd done it for her, because she'd insisted on staying inside. If she hadn't pushed they would still be out in the woods, trying to find a place to break camp.

She would be able to pretend he might give a shit, still.

"--Nevermind," she muttered. Her eyes narrowed, and she ran her thumb over the hilt of the sword she'd stolen. "I'll figure it out when I get there."

"It's easy to care about a criminal even when one shouldn't," Ferdinand murmured. "Surely a young thing like you can do better than that. I know how Horizon is, but not everywhere is like Horizon. Full of the worst scum, that place."

Sasha's cheeks grew hot. Anger rushed behind her eyes. "Horizon is not full of criminals. I grew up there. No one ever--"

The words died on her lips as she thought back to a childhood spent hiding in a room with only her brother for protection. She remembered her mother, her soft voice, and the way she never so much as raised a finger to intervene. She could hear her father's drunk cronies laughing around the kitchen table downstairs. How many had suspected the kinds of things he did and yet did nothing? 

"Horizon was a good place," she finished, because that wasn't so much a lie. She still ached for it.

Thomas glanced down at her sword for a moment, then wrung his hands for a moment before speaking. His voice was small and childlike, like he hadn't quite grown into it yet.

"Is the sword stolen too?"

Sasha's heart slammed into her ribcage. Her eyes drifted upwards, to Ferdinand's face. His jaws ground together, his mouth an angry line. Heat crept up Sasha's neck. For a moment she didn't answer, because she didn't trust herself to lie convincingly enough.

"I found it," she said after a while, tone careful. Her hand clutched around its handle. "It was abandoned." 

It wasn't technically a lie. A shelf ornament had no use apart from decoration, and it had been so encrusted with dust that she'd initially missed the gold carving on the blade. No one would miss it. 

"We don't want it," Ferdinand said, pulling the oars back so sharply the boat rocked. Sasha grabbed the side for support. "We'd turn around if we weren't already halfway there. You'll find your own way from the docks?"

"Father--"

"--This is not up for discussion, Thomas." His eyes went back to her. "I'd suggest you get yourself better 'friends', whatever you call them, before you find yourself in a place without a foolhardy rescuer. Perhaps you can go looking for actual work on Alegria instead of taking things that belong to others."

"I didn't take it!" Sasha's voice was so shrill coming out of her own mouth that she jumped. Water lapped at the sides of the boat, splashing her in the face. She stared at the two men, wide-eyed. Ferdinand put down his oar.

"You will sit, or I will drop you on shore and leave you to rot. Do you understand?"

Thomas did not make any move to intervene this time. Instead he hung his head and gave Sasha the smallest of conspiratorial smiles. She returned it, then rested her chin back in her hand. Alegria could not come soon enough.