Wren sat alone in that wagon for the next three hours, until the sun began to set and Rannok finally managed to cajole Jojo into moving with the promise of one of their biscuits. He wasn't much of a camel handler and he certainly didn't know how to drive, but she had to admit they shared some kind of understanding, because after a few minutes of shouting the wagon rolled into motion and Elyn jumped into the back while Rannok took the driver's seat. 

Elyn settled in across from her and yawned, arms crossed, back leaned against their pile of blankets. He picked at his fingernails for a moment, then glanced up at her. She looked away and her face flushed. She knew which conversation was coming because it was the same conversation they had nearly every day and she was tired of hearing it. 

"He means well," Elyn said. 

"You don't know what he means," Wren spat. Her eyes threatened tears again and she looked away. Two weeks was not enough time for the wounds to fade, only enough time for her to remember why it hurt.

"Would you have gone with him, if he had told you the truth?" Elyn asked. Wren's face hardened into stone. She would have run into the chaos and dug through piles of bodies if it meant seeing her mother again. She would have run back now, all the way across the desert, if it meant having even a tiny piece of her.

"No," she said.

"I'm tired, Wren," Elyn replied in a quiet voice. 

"So am I," she responded as the anger crawled back up her throat. She swallowed it before it could come out and tried to find somewhere, anywhere, she could put her eyes that wasn't Elyn's face or Rannok driving the wagon.

"He's just trying to help--"

"Oh, please," Wren spat. "Why do you keep defending him? Is it because you think he's pretty? Because you're of a different persuasion?" She regretted the words as soon as they left her lips, but there was no way to take them back. Elyn stared straight back at her, grey eyes cool and unwavered, like an undisturbed lake. The corner of his mouth tipped up into a smile that she wanted to rip off and trample.

"No, that's not why," he replied. 

"Then what is?" Wren responded, arms crossed, and the smile dropped from Elyn's face. He regarded her like a parent regards a child they're admonishing, all cool collection and no emotion. She wanted desperately to pick at him until he boiled over.

"I want to travel with two other adults. Not one. It's easier."

Wren's face burned. She wished she could crawl in among the boxes and bags of useless things they should have tossed away by now and disappear. She shook her head and stared out the wagon. The endless sea of cracked earth and shimmering heat stretched on behind them for as far as she could see, punctuated only occasionally by a stray branch or a cactus covered in wilting flowers.

She wondered what it looked like, all those years ago before the crow cursed it. If their journey would have been any easier. The only animals she'd seen were jackals, who were smart enough to stay away from them, and the rabbits, of which they'd only been able to catch a couple. In a certain way she wished she'd learned to fly, even though the idea terrified her and even the thought of being so high up made her dizzy. At least then she could follow along without needing to be stuck in the wagon with either of them.

She rolled her flight feathers between her fingers. They were matted with dirt and the skin on them itched. Rannok had tried to show her how to clean them by rolling them in her fingers to remove the dust, but she'd been too angry to listen and when she tried all she'd succeeded in was pulling them into clumps. She wished she wasn't too proud to ask him again. 

Elyn didn't speak to her anymore and after a few minutes his side of the wagon began to be filled with the sounds of soft snoring. She tried not to let it bother her, but only succeeded in reminding herself of how terribly boring it was without him to talk to. Usually around now they'd be discussing a new method for snaring one of the jackals or telling one another jokes or talking about their families, what little Elyn was willing to tell her. But now instead she was alone, and she didn't feel tired at all. It made her angry to see him sleep so peacefully when she hadn't slept soundly in days.

They didn't pull to a stop for several more hours, and when they did it was nearly nightfall. Rannok hopped down from the driver's seat and Wren could hear the sounds of him loosening Jojo's harness and patting his neck. Elyn jumped down to search for food, but she didn't follow because surprisingly, she felt no desire for further conflict.

The sounds of a fire, followed by the sounds of Rannok and Elyn talking drifted into the wagon. The smell of meat wafted past her face, but she wasn't hungry. Her bones were weak, and the thought of moving them made her ache. The inside of the wagon started to go ink blank and the night reached its icy fingers inside. Wren grabbed one of the blankets and wrapped it around herself. Eventually the fire outside dimmed and the curtain opened. It was too dark for Wren to see who it was. She stuffed herself into a corner.

"Hi," Rannok said. She turned her face away from where she thought his head might be. Something sad filled her chest, like a song almost, mixed with a memory. She wrapped her arms around herself but didn't say anything. There was a small rustling as he took a seat somewhere nearby, so close she could feel the steady rise and fall of his breathing. She shrunk away but there was nowhere to shrink to.

"Where's Elyn?" she asked.

"Taking care of Jojo," Rannok responded, and for a moment there was only silence. He inhaled and a deep, long sigh came out of his nose.

"Your mother was a good person," he said, so suddenly it made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

"Don't," she replied quietly. She didn't want to cry anymore. She feared if she started again, she would not stop.

"She was a good person, and I'm sorry she died. I'm sorry I disappointed her," he said, and it was like all the air left the tiny wagon all at once. Wren's breath caught in her throat and she let out a small, strangled gasp as the wound over her heart tore open. She wiped at her eyes, even though he could not see her anyway, and laid down on the floor with her back to him.

"I should have told you that I knew. I'm sorry."

Wren didn't say anything. His voice washed over her like an unpleasantly cold breeze. She closed her eyes and tried in vain to sleep. She was still awake when Elyn finally returned and squeezed down in between them. There was silence.  

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Elyn is trying very hard to stay civil. If you had a friend like Wren, what would you say to them?