Allera gasped and covered her mouth with a hand as her eyes filled with tears. “They did say he died from a chest wound,” she choked out. “I felt it when it happened. Pain exploded through my own chest. And then… Then it was gone. He was gone. By the time they brought him to me, it was too late. I couldn’t bring him back. I’d been too far away when it happened. Too much time had passed.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’ll stop now. I didn’t mean to—”
“No! Please don’t stop. I have to know.”
I took a shuddered breath before nodding my agreement. “I knelt by him, repeating his name, first in horror, then sorrow, and finally in disbelief. Then I told him he was a stupid fool, and I demanded to know why he’d done it. I was supposed to be the one to make that scouting trip. Not him. Why had he stole
