"Then we should go." She grabs the cart handle before I can. "I'll pull first. You navigate."
"Kestria—"
"Don't argue. You're the one who knows where we're going."
Fair point. I fall into step beside her as we head toward the tree line, cart wheels creaking over uneven ground. Pack's mostly asleep—a few early risers near the fire pits, nobody paying attention to us.
Good.
Out of the territory before anyone has opinions about—
"No."
The voice comes from behind us.
I know that voice. It said fuck against my neck and again against my mouth and—
I turn around.
Keer is standing at the edge of the clearing, arms crossed, jaw set. He's been awake for a while—the tension in his shoulders, the stillness. Waiting.
"You're not going."
"I'm not asking your permission."
"Doesn’t matter. I'm not giving it."
"You don't get to—"
"You want to walk into human territory. Alone."
"Not alone. Kestria's coming with me." I gesture at the cart, the supplies, the entire expedition that is clearly not a surprise outing. "See? Two people."
His eye flicks to his sister. They do that thing—whole conversation in a glance—and something passes between them I can't read. Her jaw tightens. His doesn't change. Whatever she's telling him with her eyes, it's not welcome aboard.
Kestria's chin lifts anyway.
"She's not going by herself. I'll be right there."
"That's not good enough."
"Why not? I can—"
"If anything goes wrong—"
"Nothing's going to go wrong."
"Something always goes wrong." He's looking at me now. Direct. The full weight of his gaze and—his mouth on my throat. The sound he made. My neck goes hot, pulse kicking, and I hate it. "Every time you think you're safe, something goeswrong."
"I need moonbright." Squeakier than I want. "If someone gets poisoned—"
"Then we'll deal with it."
"Deal with it how? Watch them die?" I step forward. "I used everything on Fenna. What I made after wouldn't cover a scrape. One more attack and I'm standing there with nothing."
"So we find supplies somewhere else."
"When? While people bleed out?" My hands are shaking. Pockets. "I know where this field is. I know the route. I can do this."
