Hushed Willows as spring opens (touching, skillfully, mysteriously) her first rose

The plot thickened. Kincaid found her story difficult to straighten out in his mind, but only because he was receiving it in bits and pieces, rather than as an unbroken narrative. This did not deter him from her company, however; her past was her past, and who she was as a person had not changed as he learned more and more of her story — only his perception and understanding over her.

"Séamus is... your brother?" he guessed, his tone still laced in quiet empathy. His own family — for the most part, and only as far as he knew — were still living, but so far-flung that he may well count them as dead. Nine Lives, too, but somehow, the fact that his heart was still beating meant something, even if Kincaid wasn't there to feel it beating in time with his own.

The more he learned about her, the more he understood that she was not quite like Nine at all. Sometimes, he was sure, the girl got a wild hair, but for the most part, she saw these dangers as her duty, even if she might enjoy the thrill. Kincaid respected this because he had no choice in the matter, and because her heart for this place and these people was admirable regardless of Kin's opinion on it.

Still, he could not help adding his two cents: "Angel," he said, his tone laced in quiet incredulity, "When you see a bear, the right thing to do is run. No one can blame you for that. Not rightly." He came closer merely to look into her pretty eyes, so that his sincerity could not be mistaken. "And little you — Eleuthera, it don't matter how much trainin' you got. A bear kin swat you like a fly. You'd be jus' as dead as all'a them, and you'd never have the chance t'come back an' try again."

He wouldn't knock her dedication to this place; he didn't feel he had the right. But he hated to think of her feeling guilty about it, forcing herself into dangerous position for the lives he thought her mothers must have been honored to give up, even if they'd have rather everyone lived.

"You was jus' a girl," he reminded her in a soft voice, without really knowing how old she'd been. "No shame in it."