Noah peered at Elann behind him and smiled, the hard sweet in his mouth protruding from his cheek above one of his dimples. It didn’t bother him to be called a liar, the wag of Elann’s finger and tone of her voice seeming all too playful to be serious in the moment. He failed to see harm in his own lying in that moment as it brought him sweets from his sister, one of the closest people to him like Elann.

He turned more towards Aimee and Elann as the wolf stood before the two of them. His legs fell from the bench and the soles of his feet touched the floor. With one hand he put another sweet into his mouth before using it to draw the blanket back over him to keep his midsection covered as his legs stuck out, the cool air from outside flowing against his bare skin.

“They don’t,” Aimee answered Elann as Noah sucked on his caramels. “People die sometimes, but it’s rare.” She shrugged, it not being a big deal to her. “There are rules and the fights are stopped before anything bad can happen.”

She went back across the wagon and sat down on the opposite bench, shoving her own blanket off to the side as she wasn’t using it anymore. At Elann’s side, Noah was peering at her through a sidelong glance, wondering what she thought of the revealment. He had seen some of the fights before but never participated. It was news to him that his brother fought in them which led him to believe that Ryon was stronger as well, which was to be expected after three years.