(Caius)
She was lighter than she should've been.
That was the first thing I registered when I picked her up, not as an observation but as something that landed in my chest and stayed there. I'd carried injured warriors off battlefields. I knew what a body felt like when it had been properly fed and kept and maintained the way a living thing was supposed to be maintained. Isla didn't feel like that. She felt like someone had been taking from her for so long that what was left was only the parts that couldn't be removed.
She'd gone rigid the moment I touched her. Not surprising. I'd expected it and I'd given her a second before I moved, let her feel that I wasn't going to grip harder or shift my hold without warning, and by the time I turned toward the door some of the rigidity had eased.
