How do you know? was on the tip of her tongue, but she bit it back, pulling in a breath and nodding her agreement. "Nothing. And nothing will take me away from you without the fight of its life..." she said, though her voice held slightly less certainty than it usually would have. Maybe later. Maybe when she wasn't in this hellish place, she'd have a better outlook. But now... in that room, it was hard to be positive. She... needed to not be there anymore.
"I did," she told him with a weak laugh. "Even when they tried to take us. I... I fought them as hard as I could, babe. I just... wasn't strong enough." Something else they'd told her. How much stronger they'd been than her. How weak she was. "I was too weak."
There was so much she wanted to tell him. How he'd been the reason she'd been able to develop strength. How thinking of him, of the future they'd planned, had steeled her resolve when it had crumbled to the ground. But now wasn't the time. And now, thanks to him, they had forever to talk about things like that. She chuckled weakly, though, and looked up at him. "Look at you, though. Being my hero just like always. Told you you were a superhero." Teary eyes looked into his. "So proud of you, Steel. Love you so much."
She saw his hesitation, but hopefully her expression told him how important this was. She gave Marigold a semi-secure smile. "Remember when you told me I looked like a princess and I told you that I had a real life Prince Charming?" she asked, pointing to Elliot. "That's him. And that's his most important knight," she explained Evan's presence, trying to ease Marigold's mind a little bit. "I promise you can trust them, okay? I'm going to hand you to Sir Evan now, so that Prince Elliot can escort us out of here, okay?" she asked Marigold, who nodded hesitantly.
Evan took Marigold and gave her a gentle smile. "It'll be okay, Lady M—Sixteen," he corrected. "We're going to take you to a castle protected with great big walls with a really nice court, okay?" he reassured her. "Just hang on. It's gonna be a kind of bumpy ride."
Once she handed the small blond girl over to Evan, she shook her head when Elliot tried to pick her up. "It-it'll be quicker if we're all on foot. I can keep up," she reassured him with a sage nod as she took his hand. "Let's go," she spoke, her tone serious all of a sudden as they hurried out into the hallway. "I-is someone going after Rory, too?" she asked, a little disappointed in herself that her friend was only an afterthought.