There was more calm in the way she studied the land. Now she was beginning to see the place differently, not simply as ground to cross or threats to watch for, but as somewhere that might actually help them survive if they stayed longer than she had first intended. Her gaze followed the horizon, swept across the empty basin, then climbed toward the ridge where sunlight glinted off the distant stone. No riders," she murmured almost to herself. " Wade stepped down from the porch and approached at an easy pace.
I checked the perimeter at first light," he said. " No tracks, no smoke, no movement for more than a mile. Seiya nodded. For the first time, she accepted his judgment without challenging it against her own instincts. She was beginning to trust Wade's experience, not just the warnings inside her own head.
Taza tugged gently at his mother's hand and pointed toward the corral where Wade's horses stood. He remembers them," Wade said. Seiya looked down at her son. He likes animals," she replied. Where we lived before, they were the only things that didn't feel dangerous.
Wade understood more than she realized. Children who escaped violence often held tight to whatever creatures never tried to hurt them. He crouched beside Taza and lowered his voice. Want to see them? The boy gave a shy nod.
Seiya hesitated. Taza was stronger now, but the corral meant moving animals, sudden reactions, and more open ground. She lifted her chin slightly, judged the risk, then finally gave a small nod of permission. Wade led them slowly across the yard. He went to the quieter of his two gelings and took hold of the res while Taza stretched out one hand.
The horse lowered its head and sniffed curiously before allowing the boy's weak fingers to brush across its muzzle. Something flickered across Taza's face. Not quite joy yet, but interest, real curiosity. The first Wade had seen in him. It was something beyond simply staying alive.
Seiya watched closely. At first her whole body remained tense. Then little by little she loosened as she saw her son respond without fear. The land that had seemed foreign and threatening when she first arrived was beginning to offer something she had never expected from it. Peace.
Wade straightened and stepped back to give Taza room. He's making a connection. He said that'll do him good. Seiya smoothed a hand over Taza's hair, but kept him close. He hasn't felt safe in a long time," she admitted. "
Not since before Nako died. We did not ask her to explain. He heard the wound underneath those words and respected the boundary she had drawn around it. The mourning settled into a rhythm neither of them had expected. Taza walked in small circles around the yard, leaning less and less on his mother.