Shea spun toward him, words of protest springing to her lips. His expression was shadowed and unclear, not giving her any hint of what path to take. She took a deep breath and let it loose. She couldn’t say what she was thinking. Not here with so many people listening in.
Politics didn’t come easy to her, but one thing that she did understand was the need to present a united front to their enemies. As far as she was concerned, anyone not Fallon had the potential to be an enemy. She would keep her knee-jerk objection to herself until she could confront him later.
Her decision turned out to be the right one when Fallon continued. “But it would be impossible. First, getting up the Bearan Fault cliffs would be a nightmare and would necessitate splitting our force in a manner that would leave us an easy target for our enemies. Second, we would be going into a territory that has even more problems with the mist than this one.”
“Your Telroi can guide us,” Braden said.
“She is only one person. She might be able to take a handful but not my entire army. We would need every person to breach the pathfinder’s stronghold if stories are to be believed.”
Not to mention his Telroi absolutely refused to do such a thing. She wouldn’t take them to the heart of her people, not where weapons of unimaginable power waited. Fallon knew that. He’d given her the maps himself, so she could destroy any evidence of the routes her people took into the Highlands. She was the only one in the Lowlands with that knowledge, and she’d take it to her grave before she saw it compromised.
She might not agree with her people’s stance on many things, but on protecting what the ancients had left behind, she would do all in her power to ensure those weapons remained hidden. Even if that meant leaving Fallon. Even if that meant her death.
Shea took a sip of her ale, keeping her face expressionless as they continued the discussion. He might believe she still knew how to get home, but she saw no reason to confirm it for him. What he didn’t know couldn’t be used against them.
She loved Fallon but his thirst for conquest sometimes scared her. What was he capable of in this mindless pursuit of uniting the Broken Lands? What was he willing to sacrifice? She still didn’t know the answer to that. It meant she kept her council on many things that might threaten the life she was building with him.
“This doesn’t leave us with a lot of options,” Braden said, dissatisfied. “If we can’t find a way to meet this challenge, we will lose much of what we’ve built here.”
Yes, they would. Everybody’s faces were grim as they considered the prospect.
“It is possible that this whole thing is a temporary situation,” Shea said into the quiet.
Fallon shifted to his attention to her. “How so?”
“Even in the Highlands, the mist waxes and wanes, coming in cycles. It is not an ever-present threat. In the Lowlands, the threat of the mist has faded until it is little more than a myth of the times after the cataclysm. It is possible that this is a fluke, one that will not remain.”
“Or it could be the first sign that the worst is yet to come,” Fallon said.
She nodded. That could very well be the case. They were in uncharted territory. Shea really knew nothing for sure.
“Are you able to teach some techniques for dealing with it?” Eamon asked. “Things like tethering to the soul tree? It might not be much, but it could be the difference between losing everyone and just losing some. You might not be able to teach us how to navigate it, but you might be able to show us how to survive it.”
Shea thought about his words. It was a long shot, but it was better to try than give up out of hand. “I will think on what might help. It would be wise to talk to the villagers above. They might have something worthwhile to contribute.”
“I thought you said the mist hasn’t reached down here in hundreds of years,” Darius said.
“It hasn’t, but I noticed something strange about the trees when we were in the mist. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that their ancestors chose this area to settle. There might be some nugget of information in their oral stories that could help us now.”
“Trenton and Wilhelm will help you.” Fallon’s words were an order thinly veiled as a request. Shea had no doubt he intended them to also guard her from danger—something she had little need of up there. The villagers had never been hostile, accepting her into their midst and treating her with a respect Shea was not used to.
“In the meantime, I’m giving the order to keep all patrols in camp unless its mission critical,” Fallon told the rest. “Until we know how to deal with this, I don’t want to risk losing men on nonessential tasks. All expeditions are to be cleared by myself, Darius or Braden.”
There was a murmured assent from those at the table. It wasn’t a long-term solution but it would do for now.
By some unspoken command, Eamon and his men stood, giving Fallon and Shea respectful nods before departing. They were followed by several others, people Shea guessed were in similar positions as Eamon. Trenton and Wilhelm stood and followed them.
The group was whittled down, leaving behind only the clan heads, Braden, Darius, and Daere.
Shea glanced around, not knowing if she should remain. Whatever they planned to talk about was probably important, and she doubted she would play any part in it. She set her glass down and began to stand. Fallon’s hand on her wrist forestalled her, asking without words for her to remain.
She kept her sigh internal and settled back down. She was still not sure how she felt being included in these discussions. On one hand, she was flattered that Fallon respected her enough to have her be part of the decision making at the highest level. On the other, she hated the responsibility such a position gave her.
“As many of you know, I have spent the last few months journeying through much of the conquered southern Lowlands and inspecting our strongholds there.”
It was why he’d been gone for the last few months. He’d wanted to see how his commanders were handling the larger city states and see the state of things for himself. It’s why he had left Shea behind, despite her objections.
“What you don’t know is that I also visited the Outlands and our people there.”
This was the first time Shea was hearing of it.
Judging by the surprise on many of the faces around them, this was news to the Trateri as well. Darius was the only one who didn’t look taken off guard.
“One of my purposes was to convince Braden to lend his help to the efforts here. The other was to assess the situation there. Braden will share more.” Fallon gave Braden a nod to begin.