Noah tilted his head at her, waited for her to come up with an answer to his question. He didn’t let up in the intensity of his glower against her, finally drawing an answer from her that said she may have been lying. Noah huffed a breath of laughter as Elann inched, telling he didn’t believe her.

“As if you’d lie,” he affirmed, almost dismissively.

Noah turned his back to her again and set the gem down in the trunk, not bothering to put it back in the sack with the others. He left it there, letting the light die down. With the waning light came his own confidence, for he actually wasn’t sure if Elann was totally incapable of lying. He, too, was bluffing in his own way, but turned away from her so she couldn’t see the uncertainty in his face.

Noah continued to face away until the darkness retook the interior of the wagon, even more dark than before since the flaps were close. Moon and starlight weren’t allowed in through the thickness of the canvas, and even Noah was having a hard time viewing Elann from across the way. He saw her shadow against the back flaps, but that was mostly it, as his eyes adjusted more and more to the newfound darkness.