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She heard the rustle again and her heart took a leap when she saw fingers reaching out fros Her hands raced to herher breaths

So to on

Alina cautiously dropped to her knees and crawled closer She took the apple and stared at it strangely, then she laid her palm on the wall and whispered, "Who’s there?"

She took a look outside through a space between two of the logs and recognized the face of the young guard who had spoken for her earlier, Sinna

He was trying to act norht as he retreated

"Wait," she called, but her voice came out too quiet, and a bit too late Sinna had already left

Alina rolled back to the center of the wagon

She hugged her knees and buried her face in them The whimpers and shivers returned She cried quietly in the dark, but every now and then she would steal a look at the apple by her side

It alave her comfort, in her loneliness and her fears