And now he was lying there dying because he'd protected her-a worthless slave who didn't deserve protection from anyone, let alone someone like him.
"Sir Viktor!" Her voice cracked as she finally managed to drag herself forward a few inches. Her arms gave out immediately afterward, and she collapsed back onto the stone with a pained gasp.
But she didn't stop trying.
She couldn't stop.
Her fingers dug into the stone again as she pulled herself forward another inch. Then another. Each movement sent fresh waves of agony through her battered body-her muscles screaming in protest-but she ignored it all.
All that mattered was reaching him.
"Please..." Tears dripped from her chin onto the stone beneath her as she crawled. "Please wake up... Sir Viktor... please..."
The tree root mask he'd made for her was still clutched in one trembling hand-wet and crumpled but intact. She'd ripped it off her face the moment they'd surfaced because she needed to 'see', needed to know if he was okay.
