Pathfinder's Way (42 page)

“Shane meet Remy.”

Shane nodded briefly, not offering her hand.
The Trateri weren’t big on handshakes as it was too easy for an
enemy to use them to disable their opponent.

“If you’re serious about heading out this
morning, my commander and I would be grateful for the extra help
out there,” Remy said, his voice nearly a whisper. “You’ll have to
keep up though. We won’t be stopping until well after
nightfall.”

Shea smiled, her lips barely tilting up at
the corners. “That won’t be a problem.”

“Really? You have to be tired. I know you
were out all night last night and before that you were on a two
week mission.” Remy’s serious eyes held hers. “I know your
reputation so I know under normal circumstances you can keep up,
but every man needs rest at some point. We’re covering rough ground
this time. We won’t be able to stop if you get tired.”

Shea paused, looking away for a moment before
looking him straight in the eye. “I won’t be a problem.”

His concerns would be valid under normal
circumstances. This time she had every intention of leaving the
group at the first possible chance.

Remy looked unimpressed with her statement
but said, “My commander said if you can keep up you can come.”

Shea fought from whooping in relief and
settled for a small smile before bending and grabbing her pack.

“Going somewhere,” a cool voice asked as a
man wearing the distinctive colors of Hawkvale, golden yellow and
dark brown, strode up to the trio. It was Caden.

Shea froze in the midst of slinging her pack
on her back as Caden’s knowing eyes examined her. Damn.

Seeing Shea had been stricken mute, Clark
jumped in. “Shane’s heading out on a mission with Dark Light
troop.”

“Is he?” Caden asked his hands clasped behind
his back as he gave her an inscrutable glance.

“Yes, my commander thought it would be good
to have some fresh blood around,” Remy said softly, his posture
alert and wary.

“I’m afraid he’ll have to get that blood
elsewhere. This one’s off the mission register until further
notice. Orders of Hawkvale himself.” Caden gave Shea a sidelong
glance. “It’s a good thing I caught you before you left. Shane has
been promoted to the Anateri, Hawkvale’s personal warriors. I’m
afraid your days as a scout are over.”

Shea clenched her jaw in disbelief as Remy’s
eyes widened, and Clark’s mouth dropped open in surprise.

“I told you this meant a promotion.” Clark
punched her in the arm.

“But I’m a scout.”

Caden’s face held a bland disinterest as he
said, “Not anymore.”

Picking up on her distress, Clark clasped her
shoulders saying earnestly, “Shane, this is a good thing. The
Anateri are the elitist of the elite. Every Trateri boy dreams of
growing up to be one.”

“But,” Shea said, feeling out of touch with
her surroundings, “I’m a scout.”

“Being an Anateri won’t keep you tied to
camp,” Clark said, thinking she was distressed at the thought of
being restricted. “They go on just as many missions as scouts.
You’ll probably even be sent on better ones than the babysitting
details we usually pick up.” He shook her slightly. “This is a good
thing. You should be proud of yourself. Only the best make it to
their ranks.”

Shea came out of it enough to see how worried
she was making Clark. Caden was watching closely, cataloging every
reaction and assessing every word out of their mouths.

Knowing she needed to keep her guard up, she
gave Clark a timid smile that she didn’t feel.

Satisfied she was feeling better, Clark
stepped back, once again looking excited for her fortune. He was
like a puppy, nearly vibrating out of his skin from having to stay
still when he was this excited.

“Good. Now that that’s settled, I’m sure your
commander would be happy to have his scout back,” Caden told Remy
in dismissal. “Safe travels.”

Catching the hint, Remy gave him a chin dip
saying, “To you as well, warrior.”

Remy grabbed Clark’s shoulder and hauled him
away.

“I can’t wait to tell everyone,” Clark said
excitedly.

Shea missed Remy’s response as the distance
between them widened. She was left alone with Caden.

She couldn’t tear her eyes away from Clark
and Remy’s backs feeling suddenly bereft and adrift. Her perfect
plan was a nonstarter, and she was left in the company of a
lethally dangerous man whose motives were unknown.

He tugged her bag from her back, and she let
it go, feeling unsure with things changing so drastically. Did this
mean he was her commander instead of Eamon?

She didn’t like that thought.

“Your quarters have been moved. You’ll be
residing with the rest of the Anateri,” Caden informed her. “Also,
since I don’t want you disappearing without my knowledge, one of my
men will be accompanying you until I say otherwise.”

Shea saw a man join Caden out of the corner
of her eye.

His next sentence made Shea close her eyes in
disbelief.

“Hawkvale is awake and wants to meet you and
the others for the evening meal. Trenton can show you the way.
Don’t be late.”

He left with her bag, and Shea couldn’t even
unlock her voice enough to ask for it to be returned. Not that he
would have given it to her anyway.

What was she to do now? She was no longer a
scout, and since Clark knew she was promoted to the Anateri, there
would be no getting on an outgoing mission. Her new shadow wouldn’t
allow that anyway.

Hiding among a different group of Trateri was
impossible as well. Her presence around camp and on missions all
these long months made it likely she would be recognized fairly
quickly.

No, her only choice was to bluff her way
through this meeting with Hawkvale and pray he didn’t recognize
her. When they had relaxed a little she would try to sneak
away.

“We must go,” her companion said, breaking
into her silent contemplation.

She looked up, startled, only then noticing
he was one of the men who had sat watch over her through the prior
night. He’d brought her the food and water. Caden had called him
Trenton.

His head tilted as he studied her.

“Where do we need to go?”

“You need to bathe and change first.” He
wrinkled his nose in distaste.

She plucked her shirt away from her body and
gave it a small sniff. He was right about that. Weeks in the field
with a bunch of guys meant she’d had little time for the luxury of
a bath.

“You can’t go before the Hawkvale looking or
smelling like that.”

Shea sighed inwardly. No, she supposed she
couldn’t. Finding a way to get cleaned up, while keeping her gender
a secret, was going to be a pain. With the way exhaustion was
beginning to pull at her, she didn’t have much faith she was going
to be on her feet for much longer.

Sleep was probably going to have to wait.
Shea’s mood plummeted at the thought.

She began walking toward her old
quarters.

“Where are you going?” Trenton asked.

She gave him a silent sidelong look, unsure
if she really wanted to engage in conversation right now. Perhaps
if she just kept quiet he’d get the hint that she didn’t really
want to talk.

He gave her an expectant look while grabbing
hold of her elbow and pulling her to a stop.

Guess her hint wasn’t good enough.

“I
was
going to head to my old
quarters.” The querulous tone of her voice let him know how much
she appreciated him grabbing her.

“Why?”

Her eyebrows lowered as she glared at him. He
didn’t seem impressed with her glare and just raised an
eyebrow.

“My stuff is there.” She pulled against his
hold and was relieved when he let her go.

“Not anymore.”

She had already turned in the direction she
needed to go. Her head whipped around. “Wait. What?”

“Caden had everything moved to your new
tent.”

“Son of a-” She bit her tongue to keep the
last word from being said.

Trenton frowned at her forbiddingly. It
probably wasn’t a good idea to curse his commander in front of him.
Loyalty and all that.

“That was thoughtful of him.” She hesitated
over the word thoughtful and offered him a tense smile.

He frowned harder at her and grunted.

“I guess I’ll follow you then since you know
where you are going,” Shea told him.

He eyed her narrowly before setting out in
the opposite direction she had intended to go. She mouthed a curse
word at his retreating back.

She needed to get a hold of herself. She
couldn’t keep saying the first thing that popped into her mind.
She’d get through this. She would. She just had to be careful.
Speak only when spoken to and then only the absolute minimum.

Trenton led her to a tent only two rows away
from Fallon’s. As his personal warriors, Fallon expected the
Anateri to be close at all times.

Though small compared to Fallon’s, it was
luxurious. Far better than the one she’d used over the past few
months. For one, it had a comfortable looking bed piled high with
blankets and furs. Every square foot of the tent was covered with
brightly colored rugs. It even had a small wooden table, a chair,
and several lamps.

The best part was the tub of steaming, hot
water.

“It’s a little small, but it’s the best we
could put together on short notice,” Trenton was saying as Shea
looked around with wide eyes. “We’ll get you some nicer things, but
it’ll do for now.”

Nicer? This was better than anything she had
left behind in Birdon Leaf.

Trenton turned around and folded his arms
across his chest to regard her closely. Shea blinked back at him,
nonplused. Her eyes went from him, to the bath, to the rest of the
room and back again.

“Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Get in your bath.”

Her eyebrows climbed into her hair. With him
in the tent? She didn’t think so.

“Are you planning on sticking around for it?
Because I’d kind of like some privacy, if you know what I
mean.”

She cringed inwardly at that last part,
knowing exactly how he was going to take it, but whatever
worked.

He grimaced at the insinuation but didn’t
budge. “I’m to keep an eye on you until the midday meal.”

Shea made a show of looking around. “Where am
I to go?”

He glared at her, making it clear he didn’t
like her response but then dropped his arms and walked to the tent
flap. Shea breathed an inward sign of relief. Another crisis
averted. Maybe she’d make it out of this with her secrets intact
after all.

“I’ll be right outside.”

Shea didn’t respond. Only when the flap swung
shut behind him did she allow the tension running through her to
relax. Not by much but enough that she didn’t feel like every
muscle was wound to the breaking point.

Her ears strained as she listened for any
sound indicating he might have changed his mind and was planning to
come back. Moving quickly she flung off her clothes, nearly
groaning in relief when it came time to unwind the bindings that
kept her chest flat.

Angry red welts marked her skin from the
uncomfortable but necessary wrappings.

She climbed into the warm water. This time
her groan was long and drawn out. Her muscles immediately responded
to the heat by loosening and letting some of the tightness float
away. She allowed herself a moment to enjoy a luxury she hadn’t had
in months before grabbing the soap and making short work of
cleaning off.

Every stolen moment enjoying the water meant
a greater possibility of someone walking in on her. Truthfully, she
shouldn’t have even undressed all the way to climb in. Up until now
she had contented herself with birdbaths where she took a rag and
cleaned the pertinent areas. It allowed her to stay mostly clothed
while getting clean enough that she didn’t want to scratch her own
skin off in disgust.

This was too big a temptation to walk away
from though. She compromised by rushing through it.

She was just settling a clean shirt over her
head when the flap lifted and Trenton ducked inside.

She fought the urge to spin around and bit
back the scathing words on her tongue. This sort of thing was
normal for Trateri. Objecting would just raise suspicions.

“It’s time to go.”

Shea’s head bent as she fussed with the
sleeves of her too big shirt, tugging at them so they lay just
right over her wrists. The pants, too, swam on her and had to be
held up with a tight belt. The previous owner had been several
inches taller so she had rolled the hem to fit her height.

“Your clothes are too big.”

Shea lifted her head and squinted up to see
Trenton frowning at her. He pinched the fabric of her shirt between
his fingers and pulled on it.

Shea slapped his hand and jerked away.

“They’ll get in the way if you’re ever
attacked,” he told her sourly.

Shea made a noncommittal sound and edged
around him to pick up the green leather coat that designated her as
a scout. It fit better than the rest of her clothes but not by
much, having been made for a man with much wider shoulders than
hers.

“You’re not a scout anymore.”

She growled and stalked out of the tent.

“You’re one of Hawkvale’s warriors now. You
should be wearing his colors.”

“Since I haven’t been issued a new jacket,
I’m forced to go with what I have,” Shea snapped.

“Still-”

“Didn’t you say we needed to go?” Shea
interrupted, not wanting to hear about the jacket again.

He frowned at her, the bridge of his nose
crinkling, and then grunted before turning and walking away. Shea
followed, already irritated. Her anger level rose with every foot
step until she was fairly simmering by the time they stopped in
front of Fallon’s tent.

He didn’t wait to let her enter first but
continued in before her, stepping to the side only when she
followed. Two of the sides had been rolled up to allow light in and
to take advantage of the nice breeze.