Pathfinder's Way (56 page)

He arranged her so her front was pressed to
his side and her head on his chest. He cushioned his head on one
arm and looked up at the starry night sky peeking through the
trees.

“Is this going to become a thing? Where you
make a statement of what your Tolroi does and expect me to follow
it?” Shea asked, drawing her fingers in a light caress on his
chest.

“It is not a statement. It’s fact.”

Shea smiled. In their past interactions, she
hadn’t noticed how funny he was. He’d always struck her as
serious.

This thing between them felt so new and yet
old at the same time. She pressed a kiss against his skin. She
hoped they lived long enough to explore it further.

Shea stirred when
her pillow shifted under her. A rumble under her ear and a voice
speaking quietly over her head brought her fully to
consciousness.

“What’s going on?” she asked sleepily as
Fallon carefully slid out from under her, lowering her to the
ground.

“The scouts have returned.”

Shea sat up.

“Go back to sleep,” he told her.

“Listen, you. If this thing between us is to
work, you’re going to have to treat me as a partner or I walk. Not
in everything.” She held up a hand to forestall the automatic
refusal she saw coming. “You’re the warlord. I get it and I have no
interest in being involved with every little thing you do, but when
it concerns me and my wellbeing or a skill I excel at, you will
involve me and treat me as an equal.”

“I do not respond well to ultimatums,” he
informed her.

“I don’t respond well to being pushed to the
side or patted on the head.”

The man who had woken them left as they had a
mini stare down. In this, Shea was not budging. She knew that in
many things she would have to compromise, but this was one thing
she knew to be essential to her happiness and continued well-being.
He either learned to live with it, or she would take him up on the
other choice he’d offered her last night.

“Fair enough,” he said grudgingly.

Shea held back the relief she felt, knowing
that at the first sign of smugness he might recant.

“It won’t always go your way this easily,” he
told her.

“I’m counting on it. What’s life without a
little challenge?”

A flash of teeth in the darkness should have
warned her. He grasped her behind the neck and hauled her to him,
pressing his lips against hers, consuming her in a passionate kiss
that left her panting afterwards.

He buried his face against the side of her
neck as they both struggled to catch their breath. She felt his
lips curve in a smile as he pulled away. “Well, let’s go, my
fire.”

Caden, Trenton and another man waited for
them near the fire. Shea looked around, picking out the outlines of
the rest of Fallon’s men in the dark. Though it was the middle of
the night, very early morning to be precise, all were awake. Either
sitting, standing or in the process of packing their gear.

A map was spread out close to the flames and
pinned to the ground with small rocks. Colored pebbles were placed
where Shea estimated their current position to be. Different
pebbles were placed a fair distance further down the map as a
representation of their enemy.

“We’ve managed to locate their force and
believe they plan to attack once we reach this point.” Caden
indicated the spot on the map.

“Why there?” Fallon asked.

“They’ll be able to place archers on the
cliff here.” Another pointed finger. “Since our way narrows up
ahead with a thick forest of trees and brush on one side and the
hills closing in on us behind it. There’s no way we’d be able to
veer left. If they cut off both our way forward and to the rear,
they could potentially deal heavy damage even with a small
force.”

The area Caden had shown on the map was
several miles further north and west of where Shea had traveled the
previous evening so she didn’t have firsthand experience with the
territory. It seemed a fairly accurate assessment from the
information laid out before them.

“How did they even get in front of us? We
were riding slowly, but not that slow,” Trenton said.

“We only told this route to one person. The
rest of our suspects were given an alternate route.” Caden said
with his eyes firmly fixed on the map. “We have a traitor, someone
high up in the ranks.”

Fallon sighed heavily. “You mean my
half-brother.”

Shea’s head lifted in surprise. She’d met
him. The half-brother had been Fallon’s polar opposite. Convinced
of his own superiority but without Fallon’s charisma and force of
presence to back it up.

“You know he’s been jealous of you for
years,” Caden said softly.

“Jealousy is a long leap to assassination,”
Fallon said. “No, until we have concrete proof I will not accuse
him. The information could have leaked another way.”

“Fallon-”

“Enough. No more on this subject,” Fallon
snapped. “We’ll learn one way or another in a short time.”

“Unless the mastermind slips back to the main
camp,” Shea said. When all three pairs of eyes came to rest on her,
she shifted. Perhaps she should have kept her observation to
herself. She shrugged, “It just seems he or she has been good at
covering their tracks up until now. It would be an unnecessary risk
to stick around to make sure the deed is done when you’ve slipped
from their trap so many times before.”

“That’s exactly why I think the involved
party will be here,” Fallon told her. “They’re growing frustrated.
They’ll want to make sure nothing goes wrong this time and to gloat
at finally having my neck under their sword. You attribute a level
of intelligence to them they simply do not possess.”

Shea didn’t know about that. Their plans
seemed pretty clever to her. It was pure dumb luck she interfered
on two separate occasions.

“We’ll need to turn their trap against them,”
Fallon said. “With the difficult and unfamiliar terrain, it would
be foolish to try to attack before first light.”

He was right. If he tried to have his men
attack now, they were just as likely to fall off a cliff in the
dark, or get thrown from a horse and break their neck, as carry out
the attack successfully. Not knowing the land greatly hindered
them. Lucky for them, their opponent wasn’t any more familiar with
this territory.

Fallon studied the map for a long moment
before finally saying, “We’ll need to spring the trap. I’ll lead my
men into it. Caden will take a group and attack the archers waiting
above on the cliff. If we take care of them, it will be easier to
fight our way through the men in the valley.”

Easier, but not guaranteed. Fallon’s men
would be fighting on two fronts. Nobody had mentioned the numbers
they faced so Shea figured they didn’t have a good estimate. That
number could be significantly greater than the small force Fallon
had brought.

Trenton sighed. “Looks like the boys are in
for a time of it.”

Fallon clapped him on the back. “Wouldn’t be
the first time, nor I suspect, the last. We’ll leave before dawn.
If we can get there before they’re expecting us, we can throw off
their timing.”

To Shea, he said, “You’ll be going with the
group heading up the cliffs. The pony shouldn’t slow you down as
much there. She’s better with the hills and rocky terrain than our
plains horses.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” Shea
said.

The rest of the night passed both too slowly
and too fast. Sleep was impossible after the strategy session.
Fallon spent the few hours before their departure with his men fine
tuning their plans and talking with them.

He rotated from group to group, slapping
backs and just being there for them. Chances were good that some
might not come out of tomorrow alive, and he let them know they
were appreciated, that they meant something.

They loved him for it. They loved him.

As they got into position the sun was
beginning to rise above the twin mountain peaks in the east.
Brilliant oranges, magentas and reds billowed across the horizon.
It was the most brilliant sunrise Shea had ever seen. She fervently
hoped it wasn’t her last.

“Lass, the Warlord gave orders for you to
stay out of sight when we attack,” Caden said softly next to
her.

Shea considered his words and found she had
no problem with that. Unlike the rest of his men, she had little
training when it came to weapons and what she did know was defense
based. Mostly how to defend long enough to run away. Up until she
had fallen in with the Trateri, she’d only drawn a blade against a
beast.

Furthermore, she had no desire to use a
weapon against another human being. She would if it was her life or
theirs, but preferred it didn’t come to that.

“I understand,” she whispered back.

“That means you are not to leave this hiding
spot,” he clarified.

“That’s fine.”

“No running out into the middle of battle,
distracting my men.”

“Heard you the first time.”

“It would be dangerous.”

“Yup, I understand.”

“And no-“

“Caden! I understand. I’ll stay hidden. I
won’t run out to get killed or distract others who could get
killed.”

He watched her skeptically. “You’re awfully
understanding. Completely different from your scout master’s
description.”

She grinned. Ah, to be arguing with Eamon
again. She missed driving him crazy with her latest stunt.

“Believe me. I have no intention of
interfering in your mission. I know as little about swords as you
do about beasts. I am quite aware and embrace my limitations.”

Their entire conversation took place nearly
silently, as they kept their mouths close to each other’s ears.

A bird’s call came trilling through the
forest. That was the first sign.

Caden’s body hardened next to hers as he used
his hands to signal his men.

The archer’s must have come into view. Now
all they had to do was wait until Fallon sprung the trap for the
action to begin.

Shea settled down and rested her chin on the
ground. It wouldn’t be too long now.

They waited.

And waited.

And waited an eternity more.

Or so it felt.

The second bird call came.

Rustling came from where the archers hid.
Shea could see the barest hint of movement from her hiding place
amid the underbrush.

Caden glanced to his left and with his right
hand pointed forward twice before looking to his right and
signaling those men. They crept silently from their hiding spots,
moving swiftly and lethally to the hidden archers. Caden tapped
Shea on the shoulder before following them.

A furor rose from below, the furious sound of
men engaged in battle, some killing, some being killed. Fallon must
have set off the trap and was even now engaging the enemy.

Caden’s men dispatched the archers with
little to no fuss. He emerged into Shea’s vision and signaled ‘all
clear’ then gave her the sign for ‘stay in place’.

Shea heaved a sigh of relief that one part
was done. At least Fallon and the rest would have a fighting
chance.

Caden disappeared back behind the trees,
leaving her to her thoughts. And the growing boredom.

She raised her head as she heard a rhythmic
pounding. Rising, she peeked out of her hiding place. A large,
brown stallion thundered over the hill carrying someone. Hair
flared behind the rider’s head, and the flash of a face was briefly
highlighted before the rider was gone. Up and over the hill and
racing at breakneck speed along the ridge.

Indra.

Shea didn’t have time to call for Caden. She
was up and racing down the hill at an angle to Indra in an effort
to intercept her. If the woman had any hope of escaping, she’d need
to head over the hill and then pick her way back down to the valley
floor. The ridge would grow too steep and ragged for travel by
horseback.

Shea ignored the men’s shouts behind her. She
raced over uneven ground, leaping down steep grades, trusting her
legs to hold her. She sank deep into her mind, visiting a place she
had made her home over the years. A place where the protests of her
body, the aches and pains, disappeared and all that was left was
the surge of her muscles, the air pumping in her lungs and the
blood flowing through her veins. The serenity of this place and the
single minded purpose of taking that next step made her feel like
she was flying, like she would never stop. In that moment, it felt
like she could run all the way to the Highlands without ever
stopping.

Her feet found firm purchase without her even
thinking about it and almost immediately she left Caden and his men
behind, their voices fading as she widened the distance between
them.

Shea caught glimpses of Indra and her mount
racing through the trees. Their progress was much slower than hers
as the horse struggled with the uneven surface.

Sea leapt through the air, using a fallen
tree as a spring board to give her jump height and tackled Indra,
their combined weight carrying them both to the ground for a bone
jarring thud. They rolled down a sharp incline, tumbling end over
end. Shea landed one punch and then a vicious kick to Indra’s
stomach before the momentum carried them away from each other.

A tree caught Shea in the side, bringing her
to an abrupt halt. Grimacing and touching her split lip gingerly,
she found her feet and staggered towards the other woman.

Indra whirled on Shea, drawing her blade in
the process. It was no longer then her forearm but looked more than
sharp enough. The way she held it said she’d spent many an hour
practicing.

“You?! I should have known,” Indra spat.

Shea watched Indra and her body language very
carefully. She had her own blade out as they circled each
other.