Chapter 16 The Long Night

• Roderick slept for two days. I barely left his side. Kaelen and Isabelle took turns watching him while I cooked and cleaned and pretended I wasn't terrified he would die in his sleep. Old Tobin came twice, changed the bandages, and muttered something about stubborn soldiers and their refusal to stay dead.
• "He's stronger than he looks," Tobin said on the second evening, packing his bag with steady hands. "But he'll need real food soon. Not broth. Not water. Real food, with fat and salt and something worth living for."
• I knew exactly what he meant. I had been waiting for Roderick to wake so I could feed him properly. Not just to fill his stomach, but to remind him why he had fought so hard to come back.