Choice without conditions. The idea left her defenseless. She had spent so long building walls against threats that she no longer knew what to do when there was nothing trying to break through them. Seiya looked toward Taza, sleeping beneath the shade. Traveling is dangerous," she murmured. "
Even more now, while he's still weak. Wade followed her gaze. He needs rest, good food, clean air. Both of you have pushed too hard already. Seiya hesitated.
My people won't come looking for us," she said. " But others might. Wade nodded. This country isn't empty, but I haven't seen fresh tracks around here in days. She listened carefully, comparing his words with her own instincts.
Seiya knew danger better than most. Still, Wade spoke with the measured certainty of a man who had spent years reading land, weather, tracks, and distance. Even so, she lifted the bundle. I should leave before someone else finds us. Wade took one step back and gave her room.
You're free to go, he said. But don't leave because you think you're a burden. You're not. Seiya gripped the bundle so tightly her knuckles turned pale. His honesty unsettled her more than any stranger on horseback could have.
Burden or not, she began. But her voice faded as all the emotion she had held back through the morning rose again. Wade did not move closer. He did not touch her. He did not argue.
He simply waited. Seiya drew in a long breath and forced herself back under control. If I stay, she said slowly. I'll keep taking from you. Food, water, space, protection.
Wade shook his head. You and the boy haven't taken anything I wasn't willing to give. Something inside Seiya cracked. Not from pain, from the breaking of an old belief she had carried since Nako died. The belief that survival always demanded payment.
Wade was offering something different. Safety without a price. Your brother died," she said carefully, remembering what little he had told her. You survived that. So why open your door now to people you don't even know.