Hajin rolled his shoulder while Maren thrashed against the split tree, and the joint obeyed despite the fire inside it. He gathered the chain close as the alarm carried through the forest, keeping the road beneath the rampart in view.
"Ow, okay, still attached," he muttered, working his swollen jaw from side to side, "mostly."
The western rampart loomed through the broken canopy, fifty feet of stone above the outer road.
'The clearing keeps him out of the streets, but some poor traveler could still wander down that road.'
He remembered Juna letting go of his sleeve out on the avenue, trusting him instead of watching him.
'She's guarding the inn and trusting me with this, so I damn well don't get to waste it.'
'She knew the risk, and she still let me ask for the harder kind of trust.'
Remembering her snarl beside him inside the northern Gate, he tightened his guard and cracked his neck.
