“You’re going to have to make a choice, you know,” Darius said when Shea was quiet. “Between us and who you used to be. Someone who splits their loyalty between two gives their loyalty to none.”
“It’s not that easy,” Shea said. “I may wish to keep my life here but that doesn’t mean I can ignore what has gone before.”
Darius nodded. There was understanding in his eyes. “You’re in a difficult position. One I don’t envy. Do me a favor; at least consider my words. For Fallon’s sake, if nothing else. Your actions affect not just yourself. A question of your loyalty is a question of his as well.”
Shea didn’t have a response. Seeing that she was considering his words, Darius gave her a respectful nod before taking his leave.
Fallon kept to his side of the tent as the rest of the people who’d attended the council left. Caden stopped beside him, waiting until the rest had emptied out.
“Do you have the report?” Fallon asked.
Caden gave a sharp nod. “With the eagle attack, my men were delayed starting the search for her attackers. They found no one in the forest.”
“And the remains of those caught by this sleeper vine?”
“Only a few bits of metal were left. There were no distinguishing marks on the pieces, so we have nothing.”
Fallon gave a grim nod and waved his hand in dismissal.
Shea waited until Caden left before approaching Fallon. She wiped sweaty palms on her pants. For the first time in a while, she wasn’t sure of her welcome.
He hadn’t seemed angry when he’d revealed the caverns, but that could have been for the benefit of his council. She knew that had the situations been reversed, she would not have been so forgiving.
There was a rustle from the partition and then a head topped with a riot of blond curls appeared about a foot off the ground as Mist peeked under the cloth hangings one of Fallon’s servants had hung in place of the old partition.
Seeing that the coast was clear, Mist disappeared back into Shea and Fallon’s sleeping quarters. Her rear appeared as the she crawled backwards through the partition. Shea watched with a tinge of amusement as the child dragged a fur that was easily three times her size across the floor and then under the table Fallon leaned against. There, Mist mounded her fur, creating a nest at Fallon’s feet.
For the first time in hours, Shea felt a lightening to the feelings of seriousness and near hopelessness the eagles had brought with them.
She walked to the table and knelt down. “What are you doing down there?”
Mist’s eyes appeared over her fur, their blue depths dancing with the mirth only a child could summon. She was silent as she ducked back under her furs. A giggle tinkled up from her nest.
Fallon crouched down, observing the child-sized lump under the furs before he looked to Shea. His lips curved the barest bit at the corners before he stood. Shea took that to mean he didn’t mind Mist’s presence.
Shea set a hand on what she thought was the lump’s back and shook it gently. She was rewarded by the sound of a faint giggle.
She smiled as she stood. The smile remained even as she met Fallon’s eyes over the table.
He had several maps and reports spread out before him. “Are you planning to keep the lostling?”
“Lostling?”
“It’s what we call those who’ve lost their families or been abandoned to the mercy of the clan.”
Shea supposed it was a better term than throwaway, but not by much.
Her gaze was pensive as she stared at the table under which Mist had bedded down. She wasn’t sure how to have this conversation. To be honest, she hadn’t thought much beyond saving the little girl and had never considered what would come after.
“What would happen to her if we didn’t keep her?” Shea asked in a cautious voice. There was no way she could send the child back to the people who had abused her.
“She wouldn’t be given to the people who had her before if that’s what you’re asking,” Fallon said. Seeing the question on her face, he continued, “Chirron told me about the bruises and scars you found on her. Some old and showing signs of healing.”
She nodded, her face grim at the reminder. She rolled her lips between her teeth, not sure whether to ask about what should be done about the people who’d abused her.
“Do you know what clan she came from?” Shea asked.
“Chirron plans to ask around to see if he can find who was supposed to be caring for her. It will be more difficult than I’d like with all of the newcomers. It would help narrow the search if you can get details from her.”
Shea screwed her face up into a grimace. She wasn’t sure she was the right person for the task, not having extensive experience with children. They were cute, but she’d never interacted with them for more than a few minutes every couple of months. She had a feeling the conversation with Mist could go very badly, very quickly. The last thing she wanted to do after the traumatizing experiences of this afternoon and the trauma of her past abuse was further scar the child for life.
Fallon lifted an eyebrow, guessing at Shea’s thoughts. “Children are not as fragile as you seem to think. You’ve got her trust, and I’m betting she considers you a hero after you saved her from the eagle. Just talk to her and see what you can find out.”
He made it sound so easy. Too bad she had a feeling it would be like trying to walk a tight rope through a nest of hornets.
“How do you know so much about children?” Shea asked.
“I’ve spent many hours with the children of the various clans, playing, and getting to know them when I can.”
Shea felt surprise at this admission. It wasn’t that she thought Fallon an ogre incapable of dealing with children, but she had never pictured him going out of his way to spend time with the mini beasts.
It explained so much. In the first mission she’d embarked on when Eamon mistook her for a scout and forced her to join his squad, they’d come across a village that had sacrificed their children to a revenant pack. Even day-old babies had not been spared. Fallon had executed every man and woman in that village with the exception of two, whom he charged with telling everyone they met of what he’d done to their village. And if that wasn’t enough, he also burned down every building until they were fine ash before burning the fields of crops and then salting the ground they stood on.
The Trateri didn’t mess around when it came to vengeance. They took honor very seriously. Cross them and it wouldn’t be just one person paying the price.
The incident had been the start of Shea seeing the Trateri as more than just people she needed to escape from.
“What will you do when Chirron locates those responsible for her care?” Shea asked, suspecting she knew the answer already.