Redsand Canyon 'cause baby's got a black soul

In that moment, thoughts of Ruenna and what would happen if the injured matriarch were put into his path crossed her mind, and it led to her meeting his advances. The threat of one way or another was enough to drive her forward to meet him in combat. Somewhere along the way, the connections she had made in Mereo had prepared her to not only meet her fear, but fight him to the death if that were what necessary to keep her friends safe. The snarl ripped through her throat as she immediately lunged for his shoulder, teeth barred and snapping at him in warning. Her own neck brought tight together as a protection method just as she had learned from the Imperator.
 
She had learned a lot, and he was about to find out just how much she had changed in her absence from the Trail. She was no longer some weak medicus he could push over, trap in dens and push against. She still held terror in her heart, but it was impossible to be brave in the absence of fear. She was braver than he remembered her being, a coward fleeing the eve of their wedding.