He forced himself to turn away.
"Mark it," he said.
Veska looked at him with unexpected approval.
"That is how people live longer than their curiosity."
A harvester drove a warning stake into the ground and tied a red-black charm to it. Maerin recorded the location on her route plate. The expedition moved on.
Rohan did not look back.
Only then did he let out the breath he had been holding.
Liora still walked beside him.
"You did the right thing," she said.
"I hate that."
"I know."
"I really hate that."
"I know."
This time, the repetition was not cryptic. It was gentle. She understood because she had seen his face, because she knew what that word meant to him, and because she knew the Ash sometimes used the best parts of people as bait.
They reached the southern salvage mark near dusk.
