Rogue couldn't help but wince at the injury to Cody's leg, especially with the way the strangely colored blood splattered across the floor, but it was an injury that would heal easily enough for a wraith. The pain might fade, but the memory of his loss in this fight would remain for some time. Which was entirely the point, she knew.

When Cody finally yielded to the commander, she almost breathed a sigh of relief, but it didn't truly come until after that challenge went unanswered. Then it was like someone had cut her strings, all the tension just draining right out of her, and it became easy to breathe again.

She glanced over at the queen, wondering how the young woman would perceive the outcome of this fight and whether she would even show an outward reaction. So much communication between wraith happened telepathically that she sometimes felt she missed far more than she understood.