Just because Sidon absolutely would have said the same thing to anybody, that didn't make it any less untrue.

Not in this case, anyway.

"Well, then," he said, grinning, "I suppose we shall just have to go faster, then, won't we?"

That, he felt, served plenty of warning for the slight jolt that came with him kicking into a quicker pace, still held back and reserved, but far easier, fast enough that kicking his legs alternately wouldn't do, and they moved together now more as if they were one unified tail than two separate appendages.