With no more ado, he strolled over to the red-bellied fish, bent his head, and matter-of-factly claimed it as his own. Several of the dragons moved in on the flatfish. Little red Heeby was the first to sink her teeth into it. The tenders moved back and allowed them room. None of them seemed inclined to want a share of the fish.

AS THEY DISPERSED back to their abandoned bedding and cook fires, Leftrin offered Alise his arm. She took it. He said, “You should get out of those wet clothes as soon as you can. The river water is mild today, but the longer it’s against your skin, the more likely you are to get a reaction to it.”

As if his words had prompted it, she became aware of how her collar itched against her neck and the waistband of her trousers rubbed her. “I think that would be a good idea.”

“It would. Whatever possessed you to get involved in Thymara’s fishing anyway?”

She bristled a bit at the amusement in his voice. “I wanted to learn to do something useful,” she said stiffly.

“More useful than learning about the dragons?” His tone was conciliatory, and that almost offended her more.

“I think what I’m learning is important, but I’m not certain it’s useful to the expedition. If I had a more solid skill, such as providing food or—”

“Don’t you think the knowledge you just got out of Mercor is useful? I’m not sure that any of us would have been able to provoke that information out of him.”

“I’m not sure it’s that useful to know,” Alise said. She tried to keep her edge, but Leftrin knew too well how to calm her. And his view of her conversation with the dragon intrigued her.

“Well, Mercor is right in that fish don’t have to stay in one spot. They move. But you’re right in that we haven’t seen any of these kinds of fish before. So I’d guess that we’re closer to where they used to live than we were. If their ancestors came from a lake that used to be on the water system before one got to Kelsingra, then we’re still going in the right direction. There’s still hope of finding it. I’d begun to fear that we’d passed by where it used to be and there’d been no sign of it.”

She was flabbergasted. “I’d never even considered such a thing.”

“Well, it’s been on my mind quite a bit of late. With your friend Sedric so sick and you so downhearted, I’d begun to ask myself if there was any point to going any farther. Maybe it was a pointless expedition to nowhere. But I’m going to take those fish as a sign that we’re on the right track, and push on.”

“For how much longer?”