Jace
She had been trying to hide it all afternoon.
The shallow breathing. The way she held her left arm slightly away from her body. The careful stillness in the saddle that she maintained through sheer will for hours. She met my eyes every time I glanced back with that level look that seemed to dare me to even suggest she couldn’t handle it.
I had let her handle it, even though I felt a stab of guilt for pushing her. We needed the ground.
We made good distance. Better than I’d expected. By the time the light failed and I found a campsite in a sheltered hollow, we had covered more ground than any day since the river crossing. Maggie was asleep against the rock shelf within minutes of stopping. Kaida lowered herself to the ground beside the fire with her jaw set and her white face telli
