The figure stepped fully into the torchlight, and Wren's breath caught entirely as familiar features resolved out of the shadows — gaunt, weathered, considerably healthier than the last time she'd seen her, but unmistakable regardless.
"Della," Wren breathed, disbelief and joy tangling together in her chest.
Della's face broke into something between a relieved smile and exhausted tears, closing the remaining distance between them with quick, urgent steps. "Wren. I hoped it might be you, when I heard riders approaching. I didn't dare believe it until I actually saw your face."
"How are you even here?" Wren asked, gripping Della's hands tightly, still processing the impossible reality of her presence. "The last I knew, you were still Vale's prisoner."
"Released, during the chaos of the f
