Pathfinder's Way (28 page)

His interest in the game and the boy waned
with every turn.

Not paying particular attention, he laid down
a scout and advisor. The boy’s face reflected pleased surprise, and
he reached to clear the cards.

Surprised he’d lost that one, Fallon leaned
forward. Oh well, guess he’d let his mind wander. They reached the
end of their personal decks and shuffled, drawing seven more cards
into their hand.

Fallon took the next hand but lost the two
after that. Each time the boy seemed pleasantly surprised, and
Fallon chalked it up to beginner’s luck.

When he lost his warlord on what should have
been a sure win, he started paying more attention. He was surprised
to see the boy’s chips had grown to a respectable size. His pile
was nowhere near empty but it was much lower than it should have
been.

“He’s giving you a time of it,” Caden said as
he joined them. He nodded respectfully at Fallon.

Fallon focused on the game, watching as the
boy threw two incredibly weak cards out in contrast to the last
turn where he’d played brilliantly. Fallon countered so that he
just barely won. There were three more hands in this round.

Yes, he had to agree. The boy, Shane, was
doing surprisingly well. The corners of his lips twitched. Perhaps
the boy had something to him after all.

Shea let out a breath. Seemed like he was
finally onto her game. Luring him into a false sense of security
had been easy. Keeping him there, a little less so. She’d managed
to prevent him from seeing her strategy until now. She’d hoped her
bluff would last through this hand to the next, but there was
nothing for it now.

The next three hands would decide the
game.

She smiled inwardly when the dice came up a
five and placed a red stone in the middle for her bet. He matched
her, and the hand commenced with him taking the first two tricks
and her the last three to win the hand and the pot.

Because she’d spent most of the beginning of
the game letting him take card after card, she had only the cards
she wanted in her hand. Most of them weren’t considered high cards,
but when paired with another, their strength increased
exponentially.

As long as he didn’t roll a two, three or
six, she was good to go.

“I’ll be…” he said as she took the next
round.

Shea smiled inwardly. She’d settled on a
neutral expression when he figured out what she was doing. Now it
was time to let everything play out and see if she was right.

They were on the last hand, and Shea could
practically taste the victory.

Fallon rolled a six. Shea nearly snarled.

“That wins me the game,” he said, laying his
cards out.

Of all the rotten luck. Shea tossed her cards
into the gaming center and sat back. So close.

Ah well, at least they hadn’t been playing
for real.

“Good game,” she told him politely. “Thank
you for teaching me.”

“Would you like to play again?” he asked.

She snorted. Not bloody likely.

If he’d been playing like he had in the last
few hands for the entire game, it would have had a much different
outcome. It was only because he underestimated her and took it easy
in the beginning, that she’d done as well as she had.

“Thank you, but no. I’m sure my squad leader
has things he needs me to do.”

She waited for his dismissal before she stood
and left. It had been a surprisingly fun interlude, something she
never would have thought possible.

Fallon and Caden watched the slight figure
leave. Caden dropped into the spot the boy had vacated and picked
up the hand he’d tossed aside.

“I’m surprised he did as well as he did with
these cards. You should have been able to force an end to the game
much sooner.”

He handed the cards to Fallon to examine.

“You’re right. He was astonishingly
resourceful. Even you and I would have been hard pressed to give a
good showing with a crap hand like this. Keep an eye on him, would
you?”

Caden’s interest sharpened. “You thinking of
recruiting him?”

“Possibly. He’s got a bright mind. He’s
patient and bluffs better than most of the clan leaders I deal with
on a regular basis. With a little polishing, he might be an asset
in our ranks. What do you think?”

Caden considered. “It’s possible. Especially
if he has the skills Perry said he has. It concerns me that he’s a
Lowlander, though. Giving someone like that access to sensitive
information could constitute a security risk. You’d have to make
him part of the Trateri before even considering it.”

“Hm.” Fallon idly shuffled the cards. “It’ll
probably be awhile one way or another. He’s too young for my guard
right now. We’ll see what the future brings.”

Fallon set the cards aside. “Now, tell me.
How do our forces stand?”

Clark bounced up to Shea with all the energy
of a newborn puppy. “How did you like the game? I can’t believe you
played so long with Fallon. What’s he like? Did you have fun? It
seemed like you had fun. I would have given anything to join.”

“Has anybody ever told you that you’re very
chipper?” Shea asked, giving him a sidelong glance.

What had brought on all this enthusiasm? He
was normally cheerful but not usually to this extent.

“Ah, give the kid a break, Shea,” Eamon
said.

It seemed like he had forgiven her for
whatever trespasses she’d made yesterday.

“He’s probably not the only one who’s going
to be falling over themselves to ask you questions about your game.
It’s not every day they see Fallon take an interest in
someone.”

“Interest? Hardly. All he did was teach me
the rules to a game.”

“I don’t know of any other person he’s done
that for,” Buck said, joining them.

Maybe not, but she still didn’t see what all
the fuss was about. They’d barely spoken aside from him explaining
the rules.

He hadn’t recognized her, had he? Maybe he’d
done so without realizing it.

“What do you think? He might be recruiting
the Daisy?” Buck asked Eamon.

Eamon folded his arms. “It would be the first
time someone from outside the clans has ever been considered.”

“Considered for what?” Shea found herself
asking.

“His personal guard.” Clark practically
hopped up and down.

“Not necessarily his personal guard,” Eamon
clarified. “But something in that vein. Maybe for a position that
reports directly to him.”

“That’s absurd.”

Please let it be absurd. She didn’t know how
long her disguise would hold up under repeated contact or when
she’d run into people, like Darius or his men, who’d seen her more
recently.

“If you say so.” Buck’s tone of voice made it
clear he didn’t entirely believe her. “Anyway, the men discovered a
nice little pond we can use to bathe. Grab what you need and let’s
go.”

Shea felt the blood drain from her face,
leaving her suddenly light headed.

“Yes! Finally,” Clark said. “I’ve got enough
dirt, grime and blood on me for a Lowlander to farm.”

“Indeed. Even my chiggers have chiggers at
this point.” Eamon grimaced, scratching his neck. “Well hop to,
Shane. We want to get to this pond before the rest of the company
muddy it up with their own grime.”

“Right. Let me just get my stuff.” Shea
pointed behind her and backed away.

“I’ll go with you,” Eamon said, standing up.
“My stuff is over there as well.”

Shea gave him a sickly smile and turned. The
smile quickly dropped from her face as soon as she had him at her
back.

Panic welled inside. What was she going to
do? There was no way in all of the Broken Lands that they wouldn’t
know she was a female if they saw her naked. She really didn’t want
to know what their response would be either.

Perhaps she could grab her stuff and slip
away before anybody noticed. Making it back to the Highlands by
herself, with no provisions or the proper gear, would be tough and
damn near impossible, but it had to be better than waiting to be
exposed.

A heavy hand landed on her shoulder.

Her stomach jumped up into her throat.

“Where are you going Shane?” Eamon asked. His
brown eyes frowned down at her in puzzlement. “Our stuff is over
here.”

She looked in the direction he was pointing.
Sure enough, her pack sat next to his.

“Yeah, I don’t know what I was thinking,” she
told him.

She followed him to their packs.

She was overthinking this. She’d just leave
something behind so that when she got to the lake she’d have to
come back and get it.

Yes, that might work.

Maybe.

No, it would. It had to. The alternative was
unacceptable.

“You two ready?” Clark asked from behind her.
A towel was thrown over his shoulder and he held a change of
clothes, soap, and washcloth in his hands.

Shea grabbed a towel and smiled back.
“Yup.”

She trailed the three as they bantered among
themselves. It didn’t take long to reach the pond, if it could be
called that. Nestled into a smooth expanse of slippery stone, the
pool was fed by a waterfall that fell in three tiers, creating
smaller pools at each rock outcropping. A ledge rimmed the water
allowing the men easy access. On three sides, a thin, slow moving
stream trickled over moss covered rock.

It was an ideal place to bathe with the sun
warming the shallow water and enough movement to prevent algae and
other plants from growing. The water was slow enough that you
didn’t have to be worried about being carried downstream.

Shea felt a little envious that she wouldn’t
get to enjoy it. Having only been able to run a wet wash cloth over
her skin the previous night, she was still covered in the filth
from battle. Blood flaked away in little chips in the spots she
missed. A bath would be a decadent pleasure.

Maybe she could find her way back. Later.
When everyone was asleep or busy with other things.

The men began disrobing. Shea turned her back
and walked to the edge of the rock and set her stuff down.

There was a shout and then a splash behind
her.

“Come on, jump in, Shane,” Clark called. He
ducked under the surface and then shot up in a spray of water.

Buck and Eamon leapt into the middle of the
pool after him, sending water cascading over the edge.

Shea kept her eyes determinedly on the men’s
faces. She hadn’t seen so many naked bodies, in well, ever. There
was no way she was going in that water.

“I think I forgot some things,” she told him,
edging back. “I’ll just head back and get them.”

“What did you forget? Perhaps one of us has
something you can use,” Buck said. He slicked his hair back and
wiped the water off his face.

Shea shook her head. “I don’t think so. I
forgot a change of clothes and my soap.”

“You can use my soap, Shane,” Clark offered,
swimming to the edge and grabbing the soap he left there.

“Thanks, Clark, but I’ll need to get my
clothes anyway.”

“Just wear what you’re wearing now,” Buck
said.

“No, I don’t want to get clean only to put on
dirty clothes again.”

Buck and Clark shared a sly look. Clark
climbed out and walked towards her. She held her ground. It wasn’t
easy; she didn’t like the grin he was giving her.

Buck climbed out as well, and now she had two
naked men closing in on her.

“I think the Lowlander is afraid of a little
water,” Buck told Clark.

“I’m thinking so too. What should we do about
it?”

“Well, they always say that if you want to
conquer your fear, you’ve got to face it.”

Buck reached for her. Shea shied back,
evading his hands only to be brought up short when Clark reached
out and snagged the back of her shirt.

“What are you doing?” Shea shouted, batting
at his hands.

“Don’t worry, little buddy,” Buck told her,
grabbing her other arm and dragging her towards the water. “We’ll
help you face your fear.”

Shea flailed trying to get the two off of
her. “Damn it. Let go. I don’t need any help facing my fears.” She
dislodged Clark only to have Buck grab her again and force her
closer. Clark crowed and urged him on.

“Man, he really doesn’t want to go in,” Buck
grunted as he muscled her near the water.

“That’s enough,” Eamon rumbled. “Let him
go.”

“Ah, come on. Nobody wants to put up with his
odor once the rest of us are clean,” Buck argued.

“If he doesn’t want to get in, he doesn’t
have to,” Eamon told him firmly. He was giving Shea a strange
look.

“Fine.” Buck released Shea.

She tugged free and whirled on him. Her fist
flashed out, connecting with his solar plexus before she could
think better of it.

Clark’s resulting guffaw was cut short when
Shea shoved him into the water.

“Why you little shit,” Buck gasped.

Shea took off before he could recover,
heading back to camp in a near sprint. No sounds of pursuit
followed her. No rustling of underbrush or heavy foot falls.

She slowed and looked back, searching the
woods. Looked like they had decided to stay and enjoy the water.
She heaved a sigh of relief.

That had been close. She didn’t want to think
what would have happened without Eamon’s intervention. She hadn’t
thought they would be so persistent.

Now, all she had to do was avoid getting
caught at the pool before they left in the morning.

She stopped and pulled her shirt from her
neck and sniffed. Crap. Buck was right. She didn’t exactly smell
like sunshine and flowers. The smell would become overpowering once
the others had cleaned. Not a critical problem but one that she
could avoid easily enough if only she could figure out a way to
access the pool when everyone else was asleep.

If she didn’t miss her guess, there might be
a similar one above the water fall. Instead of heading straight
back to camp, her feet took her back in the direction of Eamon and
the others in a heading that would place her above the small
waterfall. She wouldn’t be able to bathe now, but it was a
possibility for that night, if she could find a secluded spot.