As he reached for her forehead, she tensed. Elias froze, waiting. Slowly she lowered her chin, allowing it. He pressed the cloth lightly to her skin, cooling the heat that clung there. Her breathing steadied.
After a moment, she whispered her name. "Ayoka." Elias nodded once. "Elias Ward." Their eyes met briefly before she looked away, as if saying her name had cost her more than it should have.
She held the blanket close to her shoulders, watching every motion he made, measuring him. Elias could see the exhaustion beneath her caution, the way her fingers trembled, the way the sweat on her skin caught the light, the way she leaned back against the wall only after she was sure he wouldn't reach for her. He kept his voice steady. "You were alone out there, barefoot, clothes torn, someone chasing you." Her jaw tightened.
She didn't answer. Instead, she shifted her legs slightly, exposing a deep bruise along her calf, the kind only a hard fall or rough hands could make. Elias didn't push for details. Pressing her now would only make her retreat further. Still, he needed to know enough to keep trouble off his land.
"If someone's looking for you, I need to be ready." Ayoka lowered her gaze. Her voice came thin, almost rasped. "I was sent away." "By your people?"
She nodded once, forcing the word out. "Exiled." Elias absorbed that quietly. He understood the weight of a home lost. What he didn't understand yet was why she had been sent out alone, injured and pursued, but she wasn't ready to share that.
He could see in the way she held her breath between sentences, as though every memory tightened something inside her chest. He stood and stepped back to give her space. "You can stay here until you can move. I won't ask anything more than that." Her eyes lifted to him again, searching for something.
False kindness, hidden motives, a price. She found none. Elias wasn't a man who played roles. He didn't know how. Ayoka's voice shook slightly.
"Why help me?" Elias answered honestly. "You look like someone who needed help." He said. "And I've seen too many people die alone."
The honesty softened something in her expression, even if only for a moment. He turned to leave, giving her room to breathe, but she called out, just one word, quiet and strange. "Wait." Elias stopped. Ayoka shifted uneasily on the blanket.