Ares didn't move for a moment.
He just looked at her… at the shaking hands, the blank eyes, and at the way she was holding the dagger like she didn't know whether to drop it or drive it into the ground.
Then he spoke.
"That's not you."
Emerald didn't say anything in response.
"I mean it." He stepped closer. "What just happened… that wasn't the person I've fought beside for months. That was someone who has been running on nothing but anger and exhaustion and grief for too long, and it finally cracked her open for a second. That can happen to anyone. It happened. It's done." He paused. "But you don't get to disappear into it. Not here. Not now."
"I threw the dagger," she said. Her voice was very flat. "With the child in front of her."
"I know."
"I calculated it and I threw it anyway."
