Hunted: The Warrior Chronicles #2 (20 page)

“Because he didn’t cut the rope?”

“Yes. That took foresight. You probably would’ve cut it.”

Shanti glanced back in time to see those dimples accent his smile. She scowled at him. “Shows what you know—I haven’t needed rope. Nor do I have a desire to tie anyone up. ”

“Being tied up can be fun. I could show you sometime…”

Shanti’s eyebrows created a shelf over her eyes as she processed both his tone, and the humor rolling around in his empty brain. He was calling her naïve. And blast if he wasn’t right.

Why hadn’t she and Romie tried rope? Huh.

Cayan’s laugh grated.

She slammed up her shields as they walked into the clearing. Quickly, she noticed that her horse was standing all by itself. No other horses, and no humans, stood within ten paces of it, but it seemed perfectly content. A line of twenty men and women sat right in front of the tree line with their hands tied behind their backs. Sanders stood at the head with an older woman. She stood regal with her chin raised, her back straight, and shoulders squared. If she knew she had dirt smeared across her face, messed gray hair, or a large rip in the knees of her pants, she didn’t give a sign. Or perhaps she just didn’t care.

“Xavier and Rachie cut the rope to tie people up before I got here, sir,” Sanders said as he jerked his head to the line of captives. His eyes simmered with temper. Xavier and Rachie stood with shoulders hunched, staring at the ground.

Shanti approached the woman. “Are you Yeasmine?”

The woman, shorter than Shanti, turned her gaze to Shanti then broke her demeanor by gasping. “The violet-eyed girl! Burson was right—he’s found you.”

“The Wanderer has commenced her journey. People will flock to her in droves, readying for the coming of the Chosen.” Burson looked at the sky.

“I hate when he looks at the sky,” Rachie murmured. “He looks crazy.”

Sanders swung his glare toward the young man. Rachie’s mouth closed with a click. He shifted down the line of captives.

“Yes, I am Yeasmine. Do you wish us harm?”

“No. But neither do we wish to die today. We will defend ourselves, as you saw, and we’re far more powerful than you.” Shanti glanced back at her horse, who had stomped the ground in impatience.

“That is a Graygual horse,” Yeasmine said in an off-handed way.

“He’s a bastard, that’s for sure. I stole him.”

“We don’t trust outsiders,” Yeasmine continued. “Often they are after gold, food, or our mental-workers. We cannot risk our secrets being revealed outside of this wood.”

“They’ll come through soon looking for a shortcut across the land,” Cayan said. He stood, perfectly relaxed with his hands at his sides, his sword in his sheath. His eyes, though, held an edge. He surveyed his men, and then the captives. “My men would’ve found you without our mental power. Your mind-warfare would’ve taken them out, yes, but they are not the Inkna. You’re only safe here from thieves, traders and travelers. Not the Graygual. They just haven’t had a chance to deal with you yet. Or me. They are too focused on Shanti and Burson.” Cayan glanced at Burson to get his point across. “But they know me by name. They know my city by name. And they will want access to this wood. Ghost stories will do nothing to deter them.”

“We’ve seen Graygual through here,” Yeasmine countered. “They didn’t find their way back out.”

“They wandered through, sure. They were either trying to get somewhere quicker and thought themselves invincible, or they were being used as an experiment,” Cayan countered. “You know the end for this place is near. I can feel it. I can read it in both your eyes and your mind.”

“You have to trust someone, sometime,” Shanti said quietly.

Yeasmine lifted her chin slightly. She glanced down the line of captives, and settled her gaze on a man about her age with a faded blue right eye. Half his face had burn scars as well as his neck. He nodded without saying a word.

Yeasmine looked back, her reservations plain on her face. “Trusting has led to death in the past, but we don’t have much choice. We will kill if threatened. You are warned.”

“You’re talking to the woman sought by the Being Supreme,” Cayan said with a growl. “Her fate will be more disastrous than any of yours if she is caught. You will find no one less likely to switch sides than this woman.”

Yeasmine continued to stand, regal and proud. Her worst fears were surely coming true. Their self-appointed exile was at an end. Danger could no longer be contained. The nightmares that haunted them at night would soon come in the flesh.

Shanti turned to Cayan. “Can you handle it from here? I have to do something with that horse.”

“He’s wild,” someone from the line stated in a deep voice. “Like you.”

“Knows you well already,” Sanders said as he started untying people.

“I think I liked traveling alone, better. Less commentators,” Shanti muttered.

She approached her horse with a scowl. She pointed at its face. “Don’t give me sass, you bloody bastard.”

It chomped at her finger. She slapped its face then jumped out of the way when it kicked out at her. “I’m going to find a whip and teach you manners!”

She stepped to one side, pushed its face away, and grabbed its bridle with a firm hand. “Now, be good, or I’ll put you with Cayan’s horse. That one really has a temper when goaded.”

“She’s just as mad as the old man,” someone hollered.

Shaking her head, Shanti opened her mind and sought out Rohnan. The Elders were laughing at her, she could tell. It probably sounded a lot like the twittering captives behind her.

S
anders stood
at the bottom of a flight of stairs cut into the forest floor. Healthy ferns lined the path and lush green branches curved around the top, creating a sort of tunnel. At night, it would be eerie. In the middle of the day, with the sun sprinkling through the leaves, it was gorgeous. Junice would sit and marvel at it for a while.

“What are we waiting for, sir?” Tobias asked behind him.

“Just taking a moment. This wood reminds me of home.”

“Yeah. They did more with it, though. Did you see those houses built into the trees? How long do you think they’ve been here?”

Sanders started up the staircase. “Years, at least. That older dame—Yeasmine—headed out of her town when the Graygual were first on the scene. She saw the way the winds were blowing. Didn’t want to be a baby mule for those disgusting varmints.”

They reached the top of the stairs and slowed to look at their surroundings. A heavily trodden dirt path ran east to west surrounded by more healthy vegetation.

“Right, right?” Tobias asked.

Sanders glanced left, saw the same thing as when he’d glanced right, and finally turned right. “That’s what they said. Let’s hope they’re not wrong—they haven’t marked anything.”

They’d been in the area for a couple of hours, and in that time Shanti had managed to create a following. She wandered through the people, stopping here and there, laying her hand on a shoulder or cheek, saying a few words, and a new admirer was born. It was madness.

But then, Sanders recognized that look in their eyes. He’d seen it in the wake of the Inkna takeover. Those eyes belonged to people who looked out at the world through broken and damaged lives. Who looked around them, seeing only pieces, and had no idea how to put it all back together.

In stepped Shanti.

She didn’t have a clue what she was doing, where she was going, or what she would do when she got there, but her steadfast determination to keep moving had people nodding their heads and picking themselves up.

Whatever worked.

“Here we go.” Sanders ducked under a branch and into a small clearing covered in purple wildflowers. The trees at the edges thinned out a little, giving depth to the area before being closed in again by the prolific plant life. Four boys stood to the left along the edges of the clearing, chatting amongst themselves. Ruisa, their expert in poison, stood in the middle, where they were all supposed to be.

If Ruisa hadn’t been an orphan, there was no way she’d be there. Her parents would never have allowed a daughter to fight let alone go traveling on a dangerous mission. But her mother had died giving birth to Ruisa’s twin, who hadn’t lived, and her father had been taken by a sickness shortly after Ruisa had been born. She wasn’t the oldest in the orphan house, or the only girl, but she was the only one who sought out the Captain and begged to learn to fight like the foreign woman. As the women of the city had taught her their secret arts of defense—something that shouldn’t be kept from men, because that shit just wasn’t right—she was perfect for this journey.

Well, as prepared as these under-trained boys were. She would probably be more useful, too, if they ever made it to the Shadow Lands.

“I still don’t understand why we are bringing along a bunch of cadets and a girl with absolutely no training,” Tobias said in a confused mutter.

“The boys are here because the old man said they should come. Arguing with him is like arguing with a madman—he’ll drag you down to his level and then beat you with experience. The girl, because… well, apparently women need a way to stick up for themselves, and we’re just supposed to take it, because if we don’t, we’ll shit water for a month until we agree to keep our mouth shut. For a bunch of gossips, they can really keep a secret when they want to.”

“What?”

Sanders just shook his head and marched forward. Tobias would probably just have to find out the hard way. Thank God Sanders had a good, sensible woman as a wife. It helped that he would never, ever raise a hand to her. Sanders knew of men raising their fists to a woman, but none of those men were in the army. If anyone slipped up under Sanders’ watch, they learned quickly what it was like to get picked on by someone stronger and faster. And they learned that lesson for life, Sanders saw to it.

He and Junice had their disagreements, but Junice was a level-headed creature. Her mother on the other hand…

“Right, let’s go. Line up!” Sanders barked.

The boys looked up with wide eyes. “W-why are you teaching us? What happened to S’am? Or… anyone else?” Marc asked.

Sanders glared at the boys as his temper heated up his insides. If they didn’t get moving, he’d
make
them.

Obviously sensing this, Xavier said, “C’mon.” He led the others toward Ruisa.

“Where’s Leilius?” Sanders asked.

“Right here—”

“Holy—” Tobias jumped as the voice sounded right next to him. Reacting, he turned, grabbed Leilius by the throat, and sent two quick punches into Leilius’ middle. He grabbed the kid by the collar and was about to throw him to the ground when he realized who it was.

With a twisted grin, Tobias relaxed. He slowly let go of Leilius’ shirt front. “Sorry, kid.” He patted Leilius’ back. “Didn’t see ya there.”

Leilius wheezed.

“Leilius has just demonstrated what happens when you jump out at an enemy,” Sanders declared. “If you plan to kill said enemy, you need to stick your knife in his throat before he knows you are there. If you do not, you need to get out of the way when he tries to stick a knife in your ribs for surprising him.”

“I was just standing here,” Leilius said with a red face. He held his arm across his stomach and hobbled toward the others. “I wasn’t trying to get the jump on you.”

Tobias shrugged, saying to Sanders, “The kid is quiet. I didn’t hear him.”

Sanders stepped toward the group of trainees. “Ruisa—” Her hard eyes looked at Sanders unflinchingly. “Pair off with Rachie. Hand-to-hand. See what you can learn.”

“But, sir,” Rachie whined. “She’s a girl. I might hurt her.”

Sanders stared at the young idiot. Rachie slinked off to the side. Ruisa followed with a straight back and a determined expression.

Sanders and Rohnan had been taking turns giving Ruisa solo lessons these last few days. She learned quickly. She was wiry, and incredibly fast for a girl. More than that, she was hungry to be the best. Sooner rather than later, the “for a girl” title would drop off, as it had with Shanti. When that happened, the girl would dominate them, Sanders had no doubt.

He looked at Gracas next. “You, with Xavier. Hand-to-hand.”

Gracas flashed Xavier a grin. “Bigger they are, harder they fall.”

Sanders grunted, looking at Marc and Leilius, next. “What can you two do?”

“I can run really fast,” Marc ventured. “Sir.”

“He’s terrible with a sword though, sir.” Leilius shook his head slowly. “Terrible.”

“Well, you’d better learn, because if we get ambushed, which we no doubt will, you’re going to have to defend yourself, cadet!” Sanders motioned toward Tobias who tossed two practice swords at the boys’ feet. “Get moving. You’re both terrible with swords, so this should be an even match. When we’re done with hand-to-hand, we’ll work with knives and the bow.”

Sanders stepped away and watched with a grin as Ruisa pulled Rachie’s hair before punching him in the chest. She was a tomcat, raised in an orphan house with no rules. It showed.

Tobias stepped up next to Sanders and said, “She’s not nearly as strong. We need to do some strength exercises with her.”

“We’re working on it. She’s not effective enough with those punches, either. But she’s only been at it for a few days.”

“Oh?” Tobias rocked back on his heels as he surveyed her. “She didn’t start back in the city, huh?”

“No. The Captain didn’t want to train her until he knew Shanti would be around to do it. It was smart—she would’ve been picked on. The army isn’t a place for a girl that’s learning. Not yet.”

“My, my, sir. I think the foreign woman has changed your mind about where women belong…”

Sanders grunted as Xavier went flying through the air. Surprise etched the kid’s face. “I’ll take whatever troops I can get. After working with that young girl, and seeing Shanti… Well, if she is up for the challenge, that’s okay by me. I’d rather see an attack coming then a sneaky one you don’t know about until you’re half-dead begging for mercy…”

Tobias quirked an eyebrow.

“Go help Leilius and Marc. They look like fools,” Sanders growled.

If these Graygual wanted to play with poison, they had better get ready for a master, because Ruisa probably knew some things Sanders did not want to know she knew.

S
hanti waited
for Cayan as he finished getting his men settled within one of the empty tree houses. It was someone’s home high in the trees, but currently the couple that lived there were traveling, getting to know the unrest in the land. Yeasmine had said that this settlement was safe from strangers, but she acted differently. She knew what was coming.

Rohnan waited with her his hands clasped behind his back. Together they would try and deal with the problem of Cayan’s power. Shanti had tried to understand it when she and Cayan had their nightly trainings, but whenever she got close, his defenses kicked in and chased her out of his head. Not only was his control under pressure an issue, but access to that deep well of power within him would be necessary in the weeks to come. They needed to break through these problems, and today Shanti intended to apply a little pressure to do so.

“How long are to remain?” Rohnan asked in the Mountain Region’s language as they waited.

“You’ve picked up the Mountain Region language fast. Still have a way to go, though,” Shanti noted.

“Is coming back. Just needed refresher.”

“Mhm.” Shanti looked around the trees at the many houses. They were built around the largest of trunks and out onto sturdy branches. Each was a small dwelling, housing a family or a couple, but there were many of them. At least fifty or so people lived in these woods, but most of them were gathered here. The rest were spread out around the wood, keeping track of travelers and prizing a more secluded life.

“I’m not sure how long we’ll stay, exactly,” Shanti answered. “But not long.”

“Many want come with us,” Rohnan warned. “Many more want be sure you are who you say you are before they join ranks as well. They see a future in you. They see way to get their life back. Without you, they sit here and wait for the inevitable.”

“I love when you lecture me about things I already know but don’t want to talk about, Rohnan. It is so refreshing.” Shanti watched the gentle sway of the trees tops. “I need to talk to Burson. He said he’d give us some information tonight.”

“Did he say he been this way before?”

“Not that he had to, but yes. He’s spreading the word about the Wanderer. Those from the western-coastal areas know of the Chosen, not the Wanderer. The titles are convoluted. But we can’t take people with us. With the Hunter waiting to cut us off, we need to sneak through somehow and find a way of crossing the sea. With the Graygual on our trail, not many captains are going to want to do that.”

“The man with the gray-eyes will come regardless. And he’s handsome. Probably warm and eager to please.”

“Tomous.” Shanti called up the image of the man she’d seen earlier. Her core started to tingle with possibilities. It had been a while since she’d enjoyed any intimacy. She missed it.

She wiped the image from her mind. “Is that how you get your women, Rohnan? You prey on the widows and lonely-hearts?”

“If I need to, sure.” A crooked smile crossed Rohnan’s face. “There is one such vying for me attention. Well, a couple, but one I might visit tonight. She has promised a comfortable sleeping arrangement.”

Shanti closed her eyes as the breeze brushed her face. Her core was heating up with the prospect of being close to someone, with the thought of skin touching skin. Her chest felt tight, but in a good way. She really had been without for too long.

“If you don’t use what the Elders blessed you with, it might rot,”
Rohnan said in their language in a sing-song tone.
“And there he is. It is obvious how willing he is to keep you in good working order.”

Shanti shoved him as her smile burned bright. She couldn’t help a girlish giggle. Opening her eyes, she saw that Tomous was standing across the leaf-strewn forest floor, talking to a woman with a bow. He glanced up, saw her looking his way, and let his gaze linger. A slow smile spread across his face. The heat in Shanti’s core turned into a slow burn.

“There, see? He is undressing you with eyes. And he young—lots of stamina.” Rohnan rocked back on his heels with an all-knowing air.

“Would you shut your mouth?” she giggled and pushed him again. She turned away from Tomous as a flash of Romie’s face invaded her memories. She felt her elation dwindle.

“It hurts less,” she said quietly, looking out through the trees. “I don’t miss Romie as much. I’m healing, and half of me is disgusted by that fact. Like I’m shaming him. Like I’m shaming his memory.”