The sky was only beginning to peel from black to grey when Otto shook me awake.
The fire had died out, reduced to a smudge of ash and a faint orange barely holding on.
The ashes blew by the morning air.
A thin breath of morning fog curled between the trees, cold enough to sting my nose.
We packed quietly.
The kind of quiet only two people holding too many unspoken things inside them could make.
By the time we mounted the horses and began riding through the forest, the sun was barely a pale disc above the horizon.
The air was crisp, the grass wet, and my clothes still smelled faintly of last night's smoke.
We rode like that for a few minutes, nothing but the crunch of leaves and the soft breaths of the horses.
Then Otto cleared his throat.
"Jasmine… about earlier…" he began carefully. "I just want to apologize again."
I stared ahead, jaw tightening.
I was still angry.
