“And perhaps they won’t,” Thymara replied sourly. She set out again, following the riverbank, and Alise followed her. “Why did you want to come with me?” Thymara asked abruptly. Her voice was more puzzled than unfriendly.

“To see what you do, and how. To spend time with you.”

Thymara glanced back at her, startled. “Me?”

“Sometimes it’s pleasant to be in the company of another woman. Bellin is kind to me, but she has everything she needs in Swarge. When I spend time with her, I know she is making that time for me. Skelly is busy and her concern is the ship. Sylve is sweet but young. Jerd is…”

“Jerd is a nasty bitch,” Thymara filled in when Alise paused to find tactful words.

“Exactly,” Alise agreed and laughed guiltily. “At least right now. Before she was pregnant, she was too interested in the boys to speak to me. And now her life is focused on her belly. Poor thing. What a situation to be in.”

“Perhaps she should have thought of that before she got into it,” Thymara suggested.

“I’m sure she should have. But now, well, she is where she is, and it’s up to all of us to be kind to her.”

“Why?” Thymara paused in her speech as she climbed over a fallen log and then waited for Alise to join her on the other side. “Do you think she’d be kind to you or me if the situation was reversed?”

Alise thought about it. “Probably not. But that doesn’t excuse us from doing what is right.” Even to herself, her words sounded a bit self-righteous. She peered at Thymara to see how she would react. But the Rain Wild girl had her head cocked back, looking up at the trees.

“Do you smell something?”

Alise hadn’t, but now she deliberately tested the air. “Maybe,” she said cautiously. “Sort of sweet, almost rotten?”

Thymara nodded. “Do you mind if I leave you here and go up the tree? I think there might be fruit vines up there.”

Alise looked at the tree trunk and realized for the first time that Thymara had probably been keeping to the ground for her sake. “No, of course not, go ahead. I’ll be fine down here.”

“I’ll be back soon,” Thymara promised. She chose a nearby tree trunk and went up it, digging her claws into the bark as she climbed. Alise stood on the ground and watched her go where she had no hope of following. She smiled, but her heart sank quietly inside her.