Chapter Text
“So you’re here… for what, exactly?”
Tango was tall, with blond hair that shot out in spikes around his head. His hair was pressed down by a pair of blacksmith’s goggles, although there were no forges anywhere in the camp. He wore the regular Ranger-gear, but something about his posture made her recognize him as the Commandant almost immediately.
“I was told to come to you and ask about the assessment,” Gem told him, shifting on her feet. There were only a couple of other Rangers in the tent, but it felt as though their stares were going right through her.
“Oh!” The Commandant’s face lit up, his confusion quickly dispersing. His smile was brighter than she had assumed it would be- apparently, not all people in power were angry all the time. She supposed she should have realized that from Sir Impulse. “You’re one of the apprentices, then. I can definitely help you out with a few things.”
The other Rangers, who had looked up from their work to watch the exchange, went back to the map they were studying. Tango waved Gem outside behind the tent, walking her through the clearing and chatting idly.
“Right, sorry ‘bout that. I’ve been super busy with all the planning and everything. I don’t think I caught your name?”
“That’s alright. I’m Gem.”
He tapped a finger against his chin. “Gem, Gem. I’ve definitely heard the name. Etho’s apprentice?”
She nodded, listening to the leaves shift with a gust of wind. Tango switched directions, turning towards a few targets set up in the distance.
“Okay, that makes sense. I figured when you said someone told you to speak to me; it seems like an Etho thing to do.” He chuckled to himself. Tango’s strides were long, and Gem practically had to sprint to keep up with him.
Gem recognized the targets from when she had entered with Joel and Etho. Now that she was closer, she could see that there was a group of large ones in a line, but there were also smaller ones pinned to the trees. They weren’t colored in the bright red she was used to, instead remaining regular, unpainted planks.
Tango walked over and gave one a pat. “These things have been used since my assessment,” he said. “They’ll help you with regular aim and posture and all of that great stuff, but those in the woods will be much more beneficial.”
Gem reached for her bow. “How is the test set up?”
“Well, I don’t think I can tell you that. But I can let you know that you should probably practice a bit of everything, if your mentor hasn’t already warned you. This isn’t a life or death test, but it’s a good idea to have something to show.”
She pulled an arrow from her quiver, notching it smoothly. Gem had only trained in front of Etho, which was an experience in itself- nothing like in front of the Ranger Commandant. What might happen if she missed, or dropped something? Gem was just now getting used to life as a Ranger. If it was taken from her because of some test, she wasn’t sure what she might do with herself.
“Breathe, kid,” Tango said, tone slightly concerned. Gem nearly jumped out of her cloak.
“Sorry?” She asked, a bit too quickly.
Tango raised an eyebrow, smiling. “I just told you not even a few seconds ago that this thing really isn’t a big deal. Etho’s not been freaking you out too much, has he?”
“No, no,” Gem said hastily. Tango shrugged.
“Then don’t stress yourself out. Trust me, I’ve seen some bad assessments. You seem like a good kid, Gem. Don’t let something as small as this change that.”
Gem closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then another. When she decided that her racing heart had gotten to the regular-adrenaline-speed rather than the heart-attack-one, she opened her eyes. Tango, previously only a few feet from the target, was gone.
She muttered to herself, partially out of annoyance, but mainly out of admiration. Maybe Etho was right to send her off to talk to the strange Ranger; it seemed everyone at the gathering had something to offer, some way to help her improve, even if not directly.
Gem lifted her arms and pulled back the string. When she let go, a quiet thud echoed from the target, dead center.
*
A few days later, Tango stood on a wooden table, off to the side of the tents and bustle from the rest of the gathering. The other Rangers, many of them faces Gem didn’t recognize, sat around it, drinking from cups of fresh coffee. She sipped quietly, waiting anxiously.
“Now that we’ve sorted all of the technical things out, I think it’s important we talk about the assessment,” Tango said, clapping his hands together.
Gem glanced around the table. There were a couple of apprentices similar to her, wringing their hands anxiously. Some of them held their hands in fists, an action she registered as defensive rather than dangerous. It made the sinking feeling in her gut lighten slightly; she wasn’t alone in her anxiety, at least.
“I know we have some great apprentices this year, but great isn’t quite enough here. To make sure you’re on track, you’ll go through a couple of challenges in order to test your progress,” the Commandant explained, hands moving as he spoke. “You’ll start with regular aiming and such. You’ll then do some other athletic activities while you use your other skills- like cartography, for example- before finishing the night off with our surprise test.”
Bdubs spoke up from the crowd hesitantly. “Tango, if it’s meant to be a surprise, why would you tell them?”
Tango stopped and brushed some of his hair back. “I hadn’t thought about that. Oh, well! They still don’t know what it is, so I’m not too concerned.”
Gem looked at Etho, who was sitting next to her. His mask continued to hide most of his face, his eyes set on Tango as he continued speaking. She wished he would stop being so grim all of the time; it would be nice to get a feel for the situation she was in.
“The assessment starts in two hours, give or take. Rest, stretch, and get your weapons and materials ready, and at the sound of the bell, head over to the Commandant tent,” Tango announced, finishing off his updates for the gathering itself. All that was left were the tests and a couple of days of socializing, and then the Rangers would be headed back to their homes.
Everyone stood from the table, apprentices and their mentors scattering in different directions. Etho walked away quickly, barely waiting for Gem to catch up before he began speaking.
“I’ve done what I could to help you up to this point. The rest is up to you, Gem.”
“You know, a ‘good luck’ would be nice. Maybe some helpful last-minute advice would also be good,” Gem responded, tightening her cloak around her.
Etho glanced at her sideways. “There’s no ‘good luck’ in the Ranger Corps. ‘Break an arrow’ is occasionally used, but you don’t need it.”
“I’m not too sure about that.”
The two reached their tents, Etho taking a seat on the log. Gem stood expectantly, but he said nothing, only raising an eyebrow. The Ranger drew his saxe knife from his sheath, wiping its surface on his pants. “You’ll be fine.”
“But- I don’t know, sir. Something about this feels off.”
He looked at her curiously. “I told you this assessment doesn’t decide your future. Why are you anxious?”
Gem held her tongue. There were a thousand things she could list; even though this test didn’t decide her future, it could impact it. If she did terribly, was it possible they could kick her from the Corps before she became a real member? These Rangers were professional and well-trained, and seeing someone like Gem, someone who was meant to represent the new generation of Rangers, fail so easily? It would be an insult to the Corps itself.
And what about the other apprentices? They had plenty of time to train. Gem was too busy sitting around in a cabin, waiting for her future to come to her. Now, it had caught up. Everyone else had months more of training than her, prepared knowing that this gathering was coming. She was behind on every aspect she possibly could be.
“Use what you know,” Etho interrupted her spiral. “If you know you’re good at something, don’t go testing anything new.” He took a second, as though thinking, before holding up the knife. The light reflected off of its shining surface. “You like the saxe, right?”
Gem nodded. “It’s direct.”
“Then be direct. Even though after this we’ll need to be working on your archery, be comfortable with what you’re using.”
She opened her mouth to respond, either with a grievance or an unsure thank you, when the loud ringing of a bell rang in her ears.
Etho placed his saxe knife back at his hip. He motioned towards the targets across the forest where a small crowd was gathering. “It’s time.”
*
“Welcome to the assessment, apprentices!” Tango said cheerfully, face falling slightly at the quiet group in front of him. “This test is meant to track your progress and see how you’re doing. Don’t be stressed, but don’t be complacent.”
A man stepped forward from the shade and into view. He was taller than Gem, but seemed shorter than a portion of the Rangers; he had on a cloak with his bow slung over his shoulder, hair dark and curly. His face, although currently resting, looked cheerful, as though he had spent most of his life laughing.
He waved politely. “My name is Anthony, but you can call me BigB. I’m helping to supervise this year’s assessment.”
The apprentices mumbled a polite greeting before falling silent again. Gem could feel the tension and worry seeping off of the others around her. She wondered if they could tell she felt the same.
BigB turned to the targets, arranged in a line. “This is part one. In the beginning, everyone will go at the same time. From there, you’ll be given different objectives and tests. If you could all check your quivers and make sure the fletching is a different dyed color than everyone else's', that would be a good start.”
There was shuffling as the apprentices all took out a couple of arrows, turning them and double-checking that the feathers were shaded. Etho had told her briefly that the colored fletching was meant to help the assessors differentiate between the apprentices and their shots. It wouldn’t be much of a problem, as the Rangers had expert sight, but it made it all slightly easier on them, especially with multiple testers.
With some guidance, the apprentices lined up across from the targets. They stretched quietly, tugging at the bowstrings to make sure they were well-fastened. BigB and Tango watched, glancing at each other once in a while. The forest was quiet, leaves rustling with the wind and birds chirping far off in the woods.
“On BigB’s signal, take your shots.”
There was a brief pause before BigB interrupted it suddenly. “Go!”
In near synchronization, the arrows left their notches on the bowstrings. There were thuds and pangs as they hit their targets, one after another. Gem had been caught off guard at the quickness of the release, but when she had let go, the arrow had slipped easily into the air.
Gem worked up the courage to glance at the giant bullseyes, seeing where everyone else had scored. A pink-haired girl was staring at hers in distress, and from a distance Gem could barely make out the orange fletching planted in the grass next to it. She turned back to her own, dread overtaking her.
It left her body and was replaced with relief as soon as she saw the green feathers in the center of the canvas.
She looked behind her, searching the small crowd of Rangers quickly. In a corner, stood next to Bdubs, Etho had his cloak up and hiding his expression. Despite this, she could have sworn she saw his hood move up and down, as if nodding.
“Good job, apprentices!” Tango said, grinning. “Not bad, not bad. Take a moment to split up and begin searching for the hidden targets with your colors on them.”
BigB and Tango didn’t repeat the instructions. The apprentices moved quickly and near-silently, scanning the trees and grass for any sign of the targets chosen for each individual. Gem wandered, trying to keep herself from looking completely lost. They had only been warned about the hidden targets minutes before the actual event started, and she didn’t even want to start thinking about whatever surprise Tango had mentioned at the general meeting.
The grass waved, squashed beneath her feet. There didn’t seem to be anything on the ground, but she had gotten the closest color to that of the foliage; her targets would be marked with green, despite the backdrop.
She could hear other apprentices taking their shots, speeding up their paces. Gem nearly threw her bow in frustration. The targets were nowhere to be seen, and she still had to be ready to move on to the next step.
Gem stood still, lifting her head up. She took a deep breath, scanning at eye level, trying to clear her mind of anything but the targets. The pink haired girl was scrambling to notch an arrow; another brown-headed boy with bangs far too long for his face was aiming into the trees.
She looked into the branches, doing another quick look through the leaves. In the corner of her eye, she spotted a small circle of light green.
Bow already out, she reached into her quiver and notched it, pulling it back and aiming quickly. It hit its mark, but she didn’t stick around to see how well she had done. Gem hurried further into the forest for the next target.
The other two came easier than the first; by the time she had taken her shots, there were still apprentices wandering around. Gem made her way back to the main targets where Tango and BigB were waiting. The two took a glance in her direction, looked at each other, and then continued supervising the other apprentices.
After another minute, everyone else started circling back. Most had less arrows in their quivers than before, standing as they waited nervously for the next task. Tango and BigB stepped forward to greet them. After a moment, BigB began counting slowly from thirty.
Tango chuckled at the horrified looks the apprentices gave them. “Well, what are you waiting for? It’s hide and seek time!”
Gem barely heard him mutter something about how exciting that the old-school activities were making a comeback before she ran off in the opposite direction.
Her heart pounded as the numbers continued to shrink. BigB’s voice trailed off in the distance, out of her hearing. No one had warned her about this. No one had told her she was going to have to do anything other than hit a few targets.
She was running too quickly to see how the other apprentices were reacting. Gem began to lose herself in the forest. A small part of her reminded her to keep her footsteps light, avoid breaking branches or getting caught on anything. With only thirty seconds, she couldn’t make it very far; she skidded to a halt with ten seconds left, pushing her way into a bush just beside a tree.
The bell rang out, and then there was silence.
Gem held her breath. She could sense a shift, the forest going quiet, as if something had changed. Even though she couldn’t hear it, Gem had learned that the forest spoke more than people. Chances were, one of the supervisors was nearby.
A quiet step. The small action seemed to echo, repeating through her mind. Gem’s nose itched, sweat on her brow. She wanted to move more than anything, but if she did, that would be it. She would have to run back to the barn, back to Redmont and watch as everyone else earned their futures while she lost her own.
Another small step, farther this time. Gem could barely breathe, not taking the risk while there was still the possibility of being found. She tried to keep in mind that there were likely two, if not more, professionally trained Rangers after her right now. The assessment could be over as soon as it began, if she wasn’t careful.
For a while, there was nothing. The birds began to chirp quietly again, seeming to forget the possible threat from only a few moments before. A bell rang out again, and Tango’s voice cut through the forest.
“Congratulations, apprentices! Come on out,” he called from the clearing.
Gem let out a long breath. She clambered out of the bush, brushing off leaves and twigs that had gotten stuck in her hair. There was dirt on her pants and sleeves, and she flinched at the thought of Etho lecturing her about keeping her clothes presentable.
Once she made it back to the main area, she stretched and watched as the other apprentices gathered around. A couple were already there, having been found during the game, but most of them were still making their way out of the trees. Tango and BigB watched them carefully, conversing between each other. Another Ranger was sitting off to the side, taking notes as they spoke.
Tango turned to the apprentices and smiled. “Good job, everyone. Now, you only have one more section of the assessment, and then you’ll get your scores back. Plus, dinner!”
Gem recovered herself, adrenaline still pumping in her veins. She suddenly felt the urge to look for Etho again, but her heart stopped when she realized he was gone- along with the other Rangers.
BigB reached into his pocket and pulled out a small stack of papers. “I want you all to come up to me and grab one of these. They’ll explain each of your individual goals and the instructions you’ll need for the final stage.”
Gem got in line with the rest of the apprentices, waiting anxiously to take her paper. Despite it being a large part of Ranger duties, she was discovering that she wasn’t very fond of surprises.
Once a few people had grabbed theirs, it was her turn. She slipped the parchment from the pile carefully, walking off to the side and reading it. The handwriting was neat, and the ink must have been used only a little while ago.
Apprentice,
Each mentor has been hidden somewhere on the premises of the gathering. You have the location of Lizzie’s mentor. Half of the apprentices are watching the other mentors. The other half are searching for these adults, lacking the place they’re hidden. Your job is to prevent them from reaching Lizzie’s and taking the orange cloth attached to her.
The bells will signal when this task is over. For now, it has already begun.
Good luck, and happy gathering!
Gem looked over at the apprentices, still reading their own papers. She placed a hand on her scabbard before rushing off, trying to make her disappearance unknown. Double-checking the paper a couple of times, Gem tried to find the place the Ranger was hidden. The gathering grounds were large, but based on the hide-and-seek task, she was relatively confident that finding the woman wouldn’t be too difficult.
She raced through the woods, scanning the trees and ground carefully. Even while knowing the location, Gem had no idea what the Ranger looked like. The instructions were too vague to know anything other than that she was against her other peers. It was possible the mentor would know that Gem was the one meant to protect her, but that wasn’t a given. She would just have to find out for herself.
A quick movement caught her eye in the distance. It was gone as fast as it had appeared, but Gem had seen it. The part of the forest she had just entered lined up with the scribbled description on the paper.
Hesitantly, she called out. “Hey! I’m-”
The trees above gave a rustle, cutting her off. Aside from that, nothing.
“Are you Lizzie’s mentor?” Gem asked, trying to keep her voice low. “I received a paper saying I needed to protect you from the other apprentices, I think.”
A head popped down a few inches from Gem’s face. Large, bright eyes stared back at her, an easy grin on the woman’s face. Her long, brown hair hung around her shoulders, still wrapped up in the signature green camouflage cloak of a Ranger. Gem was taken a bit aback by how young she looked, but the feeling was quickly disregarded. She had an objective right now.
The woman stuck a hand out cheerfully. “Shelby Shubble.”
“Gemini Tay.”
“Nice to meet you, Gemini. Shame it’s under these circumstances, but oh well.”
“You can just call me Gem. Is there room up there for two?”
*
After a moment of maneuvering, Gem climbed into the tree next to Shelby. They sat on the branch, whispering low. Gem desperately wanted to be prepared, but the Ranger refused to share any more than she already knew.
Shelby made a zipping motion over her lips. “I can’t tell you. You got most of the information you need.”
“Yeah, but who’s searching for you? How do I stop them from getting a hold of that?” She motioned at the orange cloth tied to Shelby’s belt. “What happens if they do get it?”
She shrugged. “I can’t help you, I’m afraid. This is your task, not mine.”
Gem let out a frustrated groan. She stopped suddenly.
Her ears strained, but she couldn’t pick anything up. It was as if the world had paused, waiting for her to continue rambling so it could move on. A bird chirped in the distance.
Gem put her hand up, motioning for Shelby to stay where she was. Gem shuffled across the large branch to the trunk, staring down into the brush. At first glance, there wasn’t much to see; grass and weeds, shadows shifting as a breeze blew the leaves.
A slight movement caught her eyes. It was far off, diagonal to where Shelby was hiding. After seeing it, it disappeared as quickly as it had shown up.
She let out a silent breath. It was likely just a squirrel or other forest creature; it was hard to tell, sometimes, the difference between an apprentice and an animal.
Pang.
An arrow planted itself in the tree, pinning Shelby’s orange cloth to the branch. Shelby glanced between the direction of the arrow and Gem, trying to wave her over. Panicked, Gem scanned the ground again, spotting the slight indent in the ground below them.
She climbed over and began dislodging the cloth. Even though Gem wasn’t sure of the rules, based on Shelby’s reaction, the Ranger likely wasn’t allowed to interfere too much.
As she tugged, another noise sounded. Her head shot up, searching for the source.
A cloaked figure ran across the small patch of clear ground, latching to the bottom branch of the tree. They began climbing it at a rapid pace, moving from one branch to another.
Gem cried out, scrambling for her bow. Before she could notch an arrow, the apprentice was staring at her from the end of the branch where Shelby and Gem sat. The orange cloth remained stuck in the tree.
The apprentice, whose bow was already in their hands, began to pull the string back. Gem’s heart pounded, louder than it had during the first night sneaking onto Etho’s property, harder than it had only a few minutes ago when she was hiding from the assessors.
This was real. This was what the Rangers wanted to prepare her for. This was what Etho wanted to prepare her for.
She didn’t have time to vocalize the curse words that came to her mind at that realization. Instead, she dropped her bow to the forest floor.
The apprentice faltered for a second, eyes following the weapon as it fell. Gem took those valuable few seconds to draw her saxe and rush across the limb of the tree.
They looked back up and noticed Gem, scrambling for their own saxe. Instead, the apprentice drew a throwing knife. They hurled it towards her, grazing her cheek. Gem continued running.
She used the knife to pin their cloak to the main trunk of the tree. When they reached to undo her work, Gem grabbed their hands and pinned them. They stopped struggling, and Gem took a deep breath.
Her heart sunk as someone cheered happily behind her.
Gem turned around quickly. The pink-haired apprentice she had seen during the past few tests was laughing to herself, laying down on the ground below the tree. She held the orange cloth above her head in triumph.
A bell sounded in the distance, signalling the end of the challenge.
Shelby was leaned over the branch, giggling along with her apprentice. The other student shrugged, dusting off their shoulders as Gem pulled the saxe from the tree trunk. They stuck out their hand.
“Good job,” they said, almost bored.
Gem paused for a long second before turning around and jumping off of the tree. Etho could rant to her about manners later- if there was a later.
She fought not to sulk on her way back to the main gathering. Gem had one job, one small, easy job, and she failed. She managed to excel in everything else despite the little time she had been training, yet she couldn’t keep some apprentices from snatching a cloth? The Rangers had told her not to stress about the assessment, and that it wouldn’t matter in the long run. None of this would count against her.
The knowledge didn’t settle her disappointment. Gem had only ever been good at sneaking around, pretending to be something she wasn’t. Now that she had actually found something that felt like her, she couldn’t even do that. The Rangers would be better off without her in their Corps. Etho would be better off with a skilled apprentice, her friends would be better off with a kinder person, and her birth family would be better off without a daughter.
*
When she got back, it was to applause.
Mainly, the sound came from other apprentices and Rangers who had completed the assessment early. In the distance, she could make out Etho’s cloaked figure. She turned away from him.
Tango and BigB stood, cheering for the final three apprentices to emerge from the dense forest. Bdubs snuck over and gave her a hard pat on the back, quickly telling her congratulations. Gem tried to hand back the folded parchment to BigB, but he refused.
“Keep it as a reminder of your first assessment and gathering,” he told her, smiling kindly. Gem thought about the millions of different ways she could dispose of it; at the moment, fire was looking like a preferable option.
Tango leaned towards her as BigB spoke to the other apprentices. “If you want my advice, I’d slip that in a desk drawer for a few years. When you look back, it’ll feel better. Promise.”
She thanked him quietly, making a stop in the crowd. A Ranger patched up her cheek with gauze, making sure to clean the wound, before allowing her to return to the crowd.
Tango and BigB were at the front, speaking to each other for a few moments and allowing the rest of the Corps to engage in conversation. Gem made her way to Etho, who was chatting quietly with Joel. He turned around before she could fully reach him.
He didn’t say anything. Gem felt her eyes well up and silently cursed herself.
Etho stuck out a closed fist, tilting his head slightly as if he was trying to see through her. Gem gave him the fistbump before sitting down on the grass next to him. Silence dragged on before Etho and Joel continued back into their conversation.
“Alright, everyone!” Tango called to the group. The Rangers and their apprentices fell quiet. “Me and BigB have done some general scoring- the rubric mainly goes over certain skills or things we or the interacting mentors personally noticed. They’re all written down in envelopes that we’ll be passing out. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out.”
“Congratulations apprentices for completing your assessment!” BigB said. There was cheering and clapping. Gem was relatively sure that she heard a lute in the background.
It took a few minutes for Tango to reach Gem and Etho, but he handed the closed envelope to Gem with a smile. She immediately passed it off to Etho, refusing to look at it.
Etho raised an eyebrow. “All of that, and you don’t want to know how you scored?”
“Nope.”
He hummed, tearing the seal. Gem winced at the sound of the paper being opened, practically sensing Etho reading her failures of the day.
She didn’t want to know. That was the truth- but she was also Gem, and who would she be if she wasn’t a little curious, even with something like this?
Gem turned to see that Etho’s eyes were crinkled slightly. She stared at him for a moment before asking, “What’s so funny?”
“I thought you didn’t want to know how you scored.”
“That was before you were laughing at me. What’s on there?”
Etho shrugged, shoving the paper back into its envelope. “Not important. Especially if you don’t want to know what you got.”
“Etho, that’s not fair!” She cried, laughing a little. It was hard not to after the stress of the day. The sudden calm was almost making her hysterical.
He began leisurely walking away. Gem trailed behind him, trying to snatch the envelope from his pocket. Etho only continued to make his way toward their campsite, the chatter of Rangers and their apprentices behind them.
*
“We’ll plan to head home early in the morning. Although with this group, it might not be until mid-afternoon. Rangers like to say they’re going to leave and then continue talking,” Etho explained, jabbing the fire with a stick.
Gem looked up into the night sky. Now, after her training with Etho, stars had begun to look different. Noticing her staring, Etho spoke up.
“The stars are like a map,” he said quietly. “No matter where you are, they can guide you home.”
“I never really though that much about them until starting my apprenticeship,” she responded. Her eyes were heavy, but she didn’t want to sleep yet.
“You’ve learned a lot since you first started,” Etho told her. “Don’t be hard on yourself for what happened today.”
“It was such a stupid mistake, Etho. They led me right into it, and I fell for everything.”
Etho placed his stick next to the fire, taking a drink from his cup. He was leaned over the log, cloak laying over his lap. Gem was starting to get used to sitting by the fire with the strange man.
“It happens. Besides, you never even saw your scoring.”
“Well, I tried, but someone kept the letter in his pocket,” Gem rolled her eyes in exasperation.
“You said at first that you didn’t want to. Even though you changed your mind, I think Tango was right. Let it sit for a while until you understand it,” Etho said simply, finishing off his coffee.
“What does that even mean?” Gem asked. “You Rangers are so secretive. It gets exhausting, you know.”
“Yep. That’s why we do it.” Etho stood up, taking his cloak with him. Gem reluctantly did the same, making her way to her lopsided tent.
She contemplated trying to take another peek at the letter, but the idea of reading something else against Etho’s will stopped her. It hadn’t been that long that she was swearing Etho was the worst thing to happen to her, even calling him insufferable and incompetent. And maybe she still thought those things sometimes, but something had changed in those few months. Maybe it was Etho, who was prioritizing training her rather than mocking her, or maybe it was Gem, finally starting- or at least trying- to connect why Sir Impulse had made this her life sentence rather than a prison cell.
“Get some sleep, Gem,” Etho said, ducking into his tarp.
The thank you died on her tongue. She went into her tent, tucked into her bedroll, and cried. Gem fell into a deep, uneasy sleep, allowing time to pass.