Even extricated from cart and shackles, the wear and tear of the journey don't simply melt away. All the marks remain. And Marcus looks more exhausted than Derrica has ever seen him. The glimpse she'd caught of him stepping down from the cart had caught her breath, worry and anger tugging at her chest.

With the immediate threat settled, Derrica finds herself free to do something about all the lingering evidence of harsh treatment.

"Do you mind?" is the first question though, as she draws up beside him. Marcus has had so little say in what happens to him over the past few days. The last thing she wants is to impose.