That was the speech for an apprentice, he realized, upon their first major mistake. A ritual among trappers. What had possessed him to give it to her? And to grant her a medallion? True, he had the one he’d taken from Sky, but still. She followed behind, head bowed, appropriately shamed. She didn’t realize the honor he had just paid her, if unconsciously. They walked onward, an hour or more passing. By the time she spoke, for some reason, he almost welcomed the words breaking upon the sounds of the jungle. “I’m sorry.” “You need not be sorry. Only careful.” “I understand.”
