She lifted a hand to her face.
Fingers came away damp.
Her brows knit. There was no image in her head, no fresh memory to attach the feeling to. Last night, for the first time in too long, she hadn't seen anything in her sleep. No god, no elders, no light trying to split her open.
But her chest hurt like it had.
Like something had cracked anyway.
She sat up too fast. Pain flared through bruises and the bump on her skull, but it was nothing compared to the pressure in her ribs. Tears slipped free before she could swallow them, spilling down her cheeks in a quiet, ugly rush.
She didn't even know why.
Her throat closed around air. A small sound tore out, halfway between a gasp and a sob, and then everything she'd been holding since the inn, since the storm, since the first time she'd opened her eyes in this world, broke loose.
Kaya burst into tears.
