I spend that day with Ares, and he surprised me by staying with me overnight even though I had not considered asking him.
We didn’t talk about Zaahra, or any of the other things that I was avoiding thinking about.
It was a chance to ignore those things.
I was proud of how well I was doing; Ares was proud of how well I was doing.
When I spent that first night crying on my own I was afraid that I had made the wrong decision, but now… I was sure again. I knew that this was the right thing.
I just wished that I could spend more time with him.
He stayed with me the next day and I showed him how I hunted with the crossbow as I travelled now as easily as if I had always used that bizarre weapon.
When we set up to camp in the evening I thought he would tell me that he had to leave, but he d
