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Laurence was not the only one to be surprised that the Allegiance had survived seven months at sea; many a sailor sighed in relief at the sight of land, and again when Iskierka expressed her own gratitude for land by flying Granby to shore, away for land before her captain could persuade her otherwise.  Temeraire had snorted disdainfully, and though Captain Adams, his promotion awaiting the hatching of an egg, tried persuading Laurence to take Temeraire after her, the silence that met this proposal, seemingly joined even by those prisoners below-deck, left his words so entirely unfulfilled that he may have never spoken them.

Though it was suggested for appearances sake that Laurence stay in his quarters for the short remainder of the voyage, it was half-hearted, and Temeraire protested as expected.  Allowed to watch the approaching shoreline from within the protective curl of Temeraire's tail, Laurence chose instead to watch Tharkay's face.  He was not rewarded: Tharkay's expression remained very nearly blank to him, but for what he suspected was a hint of a smile, for whatever reason.

This tendancy of Tharkay's to be completely unreadable to Laurence had come to be mildly frustrating.  The only hints that Laurence really had for the content of Tharkay's mind was his opinion on Laurence's actions regarding his commiting treason, but Laurance could not guess his motivation for this seven-month sail to nowhere. That Tharkay chose to join him had been so entirely unsuspected that Laurence could not tell any more about Tharkay from it.

But opportunity eventually presented itself. It had been nearly a month into the journey.  Through some bizarre twist of weather, the entire group of aviators, currently with a dragon or awaiting a hatching, had collected around Iskierka for the night, with the exception of a few of the more health-conscious, as well as those two in particular that Temeraire did not want elsewhere:  Laurence and Tharkay.

Laurence would wonder for some time how he came to find the courage to ask why Tharkay journeyed with him; certainly the matter of Temeraire holding them closer to his body and thus away from any other company must have helped, perhaps even as much as that Temeraire was asleep.  However, he did indeed ask: he felt less of a gentleman for his forwardness, but at last he said, "I suppose we should not be given breakfast for a few more hours.  Pray tell, whyever have you chosen this voyage?"

"Well, I should only have so many places I have not yet been," Tharkay answered, taking the abrupt change in conversation in stride, which assured Laurence that embarrassment was not as necessary as he felt.  "It is hardly as though I should remain peacefully in England, and going anywhere through Europe with this war would be considerably more worrisome than I would like."

"Perhaps, but--have not you enough money to take a different route?" Laurence said.

"And why should I take any other route?" said Tharkay.  "I know of no better way to arrive there than by sea."

Perhaps Laurence should stop worrying that he was being too forward, and worry instead that he was not forward enough.  "You could have found a better ship than a prison ship with all manner of criminals, the worst of which is allowed to roam freely on deck."

"If you are the worst of the criminals, then I should refuse the company of so-called honest men.  And if I should pay money for a different ship, I should be leaving you to face some undoubtable peril that you would never be able to face.  Where we are going is not the most civilized place, and your entire existance thus far has relied upon some form of civility or another, or else someone who would remind you how to survive," Tharkay said, giving Laurence a scolding look.  "I suppose it might not have been as necessary if I had known that Granby would be with you, perhaps that wouldn't have been so important, but it is not as though you couldn't stand any extra help."

Laurence had managed not to take offense, and while he and Tharkay may not have spoken much more over this journey than on others they had taken together, there was a tangible change in their interactions over the remaining six months, the most visible difference having begun sharply on a notably warmer evening, in Laurence's room, where any noises made went unnoticed, though they made some attempt at concealing anyway.

They never seemed to speak of that night's events, and no matter how grateful Laurence was for repeat incidents, he came to regret that so much of his time with Tharkay was so exclusively behind closed doors.  The entire affair seemed to exist to an entirely different world, and by the time the long seven months drew to a close, Laurence was fairly concerned that in leaving the deck of the Allegiance he would leave that world behind.  As he stood on the dragon deck awaiting the landing, uneasiness took the tightest grip on him that it had taken yet, and no amount of scanning Tharkay's face would make any solid emotion clear to him.

Laurence should not have been so surprised when Tharkay turned to look back at him, especially when he was not looking at Laurence but turning around.  He had nearly made it off the dragon deck and towards his room before Laurence stopped him.

"I do not suppose you have a spare moment," Laurence said, and Tharkay turned back to join him.

"Is something wrong?" Tharkay asked, waiting until he was quite close.  Though his tone was not a highly concerned one, his words drew Temeraire's attention, and Laurence hoped it had not been his intention to draw such an audience to the conversation.

"Nothing is wrong," said Laurence.  "It is only--"  Here he could not continue for his sudden conciousness of every soul on the deck.  Trying to be understood only by Tharkay, or at least not by anyone else, he said, "I am only concerned that my belongings remain unpacked in my room."

"Would you like me to see that they are packed?" Tharkay asked, to which Laurence nodded, nearly wishing that he had left his thoughts open on the writing desk for Tharkay to see.  When he was fairly sure that Tharkay had left, Laurence looked back out to the approaching shoreline, anxiety remaining in his stomach until a hand brushed his and Tharkay said, "Everything is packed and ready for our journey."