By the third hour she was less certain about the easing.

The road had curved fully inland by then, the sea gone entirely, the chalky hills of Aelundra's interior rising on both sides now. The terrain was still good — packed earth, no significant elevation change — but Arvel's rhythmic movement, which had been easy in the first hour, had become something she was now continuously aware of. The tightness in her thighs had not eased. It had extended, working its way up into her hips, and there was a developing ache low in her back that she was doing her best not to acknowledge.

She adjusted her position in the saddle slightly. That helped for approximately three minutes.

She adjusted it again.

Cassius, to her left, was speaking briefly with his steward, who had come up alongside on the right. She caught the words supply wagon and the name of a river she did not recognise, and then the steward fell back and Cassius returned his attention to the road. He spoke occasionally to his steward, who rode a length behind them on the right. He did not appear to notice that she had adjusted her position four times in the last quarter hour.

"You mentioned that you read Vorrachi," he said, after a moment.

"I am learning it," she corrected. "I would not claim fluency."

"How far along?"

"Far enough to read slowly. Not far enough to speak without embarrassing myself." She adjusted her position again. "The written form is easier than the spoken. The tonal distinctions are significant and do not translate well from the page."

"Where did you find texts?"

"The palace library has three. They are old and two of them are partially damaged, but they are sufficient for the grammar." She paused. "I have been corresponding with a scholar in the neutral city who has access to more recent material. Through an intermediary."

He looked at her. "Through an intermediary."

"My father would not have approved of the correspondence," she said. "Learning the enemy's language has a particular political legibility that I did not want attached to my name while I was still at the Solathis."

He was quiet for a moment. "And now?"

"Now I am no longer at the Solathis," she said. "The question is somewhat different."

He looked at the road ahead. "Halor Keep has no Vorrachi texts that I am aware of. But Kethavar may. The Guild chapter house there has a substantial library."

"I was not aware of that."

"My father has used their resources on occasion. The relationship is cooperative, if not warm." A pause. "I can make an introduction, if it would be useful."

She looked at him. "That would be very useful. Thank you."

He nodded and said nothing further.

She adjusted her position in the saddle for the sixth time in the last half hour. The ache in her lower back had settled into something consistent and unhelpful, and the inside of her thighs had stopped being a tightness and started being a specific complaint. She breathed through it. She kept her back straight and her hands quiet on the reins and her face entirely arranged, and she did not ask the column to stop.

Cassius did not appear to notice. She was determined to keep it that way.