"Oh, and - Castarilan's staying behind, I think Path will too, it's up to you about Vernaia, but I'm not sure how well separation works across entire planes. Probably one of us should nip into New Kystle really quickly as a dry run before anybody else goes through."

"I do not think I could bring Vern back to that place in good conscience. We'll have to see if them staying here'll work, if not, then we could probably go in with them and leave them by the portal as we go, to keep them safe."

"Right. I actually thought of this earlier, but I was hoping it'd become obvious who'd make the best test subject, and it is... not obvious."

"I will. Don't worry."

"The portal opens into midair. If I fall unconscious or something in midair on my cloudpine, as long as I was lying on it instead of sitting up, you could reach through and drag me back; what happens if you pass out midflight?"

Awkward pause. "... I fall out of the sky and go splat. Point taken."

"Yeah. Don't go splat. I mean, if the result is more exotic than 'passing out', I could easily be in more trouble somehow, but it seems like the most predictable category of results mean I should tie myself to my branch just to be safe and go through first. Or Ranata could but I have qualms about experimenting on my mother."

Adarin is making a vaguely displeased face about his girlfriend being the experiment. "Should I be on the other side with Vern in case something does go wrong?"

"I suppose we could bring both her and Path as far as my house instead of leaving them here to sit on Kesathi all the time. That'd add a layer of safety."

"I would be most comfortable with more layers of safety," he says. "Should we ask the alethiometer?"

"The alethiometer has been consulted. It doesn't work on subjects outside this plane, and this subject counts."

Isabella hugs him.

He hugs her back, a bit more tightly than necessary, though not crushingly so.

"In all probability it'll work fine. I just think it warrants a limited-scope test first."

"Yes, but I still want you to be safe and it does bother me that you'd be the one at risk."

"How's this: you go through with Vern. Me and Path go through, in that order, with him gliding with enough momentum that he'll follow under most possible circumstances. You'll be there to catch me, even if something happens it'll only take a moment, and probably we'll just be fine and Path and Vern go back without incident and Ranata follows us through."

"Better," he manages. "That's better. Thank you."

Nuzzle.

Nuzzle! "I'm probably being extremely silly, aren't I."

"No, it's sweet. It'd be silly if you were insisting on being the test subject in spite of my cogent points."

"I am trying to think of valid arguments for me to be test subject anyway. I've been entertaining the idea of tying me with a rope and maybe dragging me back if I fall out of the sky, but... Sudden gravity could react badly with things."

"That and me and Ranata aren't going to win any weightlifting competitions. You aren't enormous, but I'd bet very little on our ability to haul you through a portal via rope."