"I would appreciate that, if you're willing," Arialla said. The latter part of the sentence was just a courtesy: she assumed Mildew would not have offered were she not willing to give Arialla something. But: "I'm not sure how I could repay you."
After all, Arialla hadn't carried much on her flight across the Wilds -- and she rather doubted that Mildew would be interested in the kind of trinkets and pretty things Arialla usually bartered with in Torchline, anyway. Beachcombing still comprised a good portion of her livelihood, but she didn't have any of her usual shells and sea glass with her.
"I will take comfort where I can find it," she added, smiling: not bitter or angry about her future, simply receptive to whatever help she could find.
(It wouldn't save her.)
please don't take my sunshine away
