PART II

ABLAZE

'Wake up, ' Erwin said. 'We 've reached Trost. '

Levi sat up so quickly that the stack of paperwork began to slide off his lap. He clamped onto it before it could fall to the floor. 'What the hell? When did I fall asleep? '

'About an hour ago. I suppose the paperwork did get rather tedious. ' Erwin stacked his own pile of papers on the bench beside him, then slipped the stack neatly into his file.

The carriage must have rolled over a rock, because a bump rattled the cabin, and Levi nearly lost his papers again. He frowned and carefully aligned the edges. 'You should have woken me up. That was the last hour we had before everything went back to normal. '

'You looked so relaxed that I didn 't want to wake you. '

They exchanged a long look.

'Levi, ' Erwin said quietly, 'this trip was ' ' He couldn 't find the word. 'I feel like we 've been away for years, not a few days. '