Pathfinder's Way (45 page)

It was madness. It was brilliance. And now he
had to decide what to do with her.

Now she was in his grasp, and he was just as
confounded as before. He didn’t like it.

“I never imagined she would be hiding right
under our noses all this time,” Darius mused from his side.

Fallon grunted.

“It’s rather genius. You have to admit.”

“No doubt the clan heads have already begun
to spread this story.” Darius continued the one sided conversation,
used to the way Fallon got when he was trying to figure out the
answer to a problem. “Bunch of gossips that group is. Worse than a
gaggle of women.”

By nightfall, the story of the female scout
would be all over camp.

Fallon really ought to make an example of
her. If it wasn’t for the fact she had saved his life twice and
looked so damn delicate, he would have.

“What are you going to do?”

Fallon gave Darius a dark look.

“You have no idea, do you?” Darius said
softly as he watched Fallon disappear into his tent.

Fallon gave a sharp nod to Trenton. The man
nodded back and excused himself quickly, leaving the two alone.
Fallon loomed over Shea half surprised to find her where he’d left
her.

She looked peaceful in sleep. She rubbed her
chin against the hand under her cheek as if she was snuggling down
for the night. She’d curled up in one corner of the room on a pile
of rugs.

Her face was bonier than the first time he’d
seen her. Her wrists were too. It wouldn’t take much strength to
snap them. It was hard to imagine she had the ability to keep up
with a scouting party, much less have the strength to free him from
a spinner web.

She was much shorter than the shortest
Trateri. Even the women were several inches taller than her. She
was slimmer too, lacking the muscled bulk of the women he was used
to. Despite her slender limbs and bony features, he still couldn’t
understand how he had ever thought her a boy.

There was a fine boned femininity about her
face. Her lips were full and kissable and when he looked closer he
could see the curves of the hips and thighs she tried to hide with
loose clothes.

No, when looking now, it was nearly
impossible to see how she had hidden for so long in their very
camp.

It was inconceivable, enraging and not to be
tolerated.

He could have her whipped in front of his
men. That would set a nice example. If he did that, however, it
might make her hesitant to bed him.

He could force her.

Like hell.

He had never had to force a woman in his
life. They came to him. Begged to be let into his bed and protested
when he ordered them to leave when he was finished.

No, she’d come to him of her own will. That
meant physical punishment was out.

He couldn’t let this insult go, though. He’d
be a laughing stock in front of the men and sooner or later the
clan heads would use it as an excuse to try to force him from his
position. It wouldn’t work just as their last attempt hadn’t, but
in the meantime, it would be tedious to deal with.

He reached down and carefully lifted her. She
slept through the transition, settling into his arms more firmly.
His chest tightened at the sensation before he pushed it away and
headed to the bed chamber. He needed to think on her punishment. It
wouldn’t do to rush these things. No, the punishment would have to
be perfect.

Shea felt warm and comfortable as she drifted
up from sleep. When had they gotten such comfortable mattresses in
the scouts’ transient tents? It had been so long since she’d slept
on a decent mattress. Months, at least.

She stretched and rolled onto her stomach. Or
tried to at least. An iron band around her chest kept her pinned on
her side

Lifting her head, she looked blearily down
her body, coming more awake at the sight of a bronzed arm wrapped
around her ribs, right under her breasts. A muscled leg was thrown
over hers.

All traces of sleep fell away, and she put
her head back down as she cursed silently. She ran through her
memories of the previous day. Fallon had discovered her identity.
For someone who seemed hell bent on capturing her, he hadn’t been
that pleased when she turned up right under his very nose.

He’d left her to her own devices for hours.
The afternoon had fallen into night and driven by a stomach that
hadn’t seen much food in the past few days, Shea had finally eaten
some of the meal. Fed, her body had decided it was time to catch up
on rest. She’d curled up on some rugs as they were the softest
surface in the tent besides the bed in the personal chambers, and
she wasn’t getting near that.

Shea examined the fur covering her and looked
around. She recognized the furnishings from her visit
yesterday.

Well, just because he had carried her to bed
didn’t mean she had to stay there. She shifted carefully under the
weight of his limbs as she started edging toward freedom.

“Trying to escape again?” a deep voice
rumbled next to her ear.

She froze.

His arms tightened, bringing her body more
firmly against his. Her face burned as a very firm body part nudged
her ass. She tested his hold but gave up quickly when his arm and
leg didn’t budge.

“Not very talkative this morning, are you?”
his amused voice asked. “I’m sure we can find other things to fill
our time.”

One thumb caressed the side of her breast,
leaving no question as to his meaning.

Shea found her voice quickly. “Is this how
you treat all the people who save your life?”

“Of course not.” He bit her ear gently and a
shiver worked its way down her body. “Just the tiny, delicate ones
who think they can disguise themselves as a boy.”

“So you need rescuing a lot, then? Your poor
army. It’s a wonder they ever managed to conquer the Lowlands if
they always have to worry about your safety.”

Shea could have bitten her tongue at those
words. She didn’t know what possessed her, but whenever she was
around him the filter that normally existed between her brain and
mouth seemed to disappear.

His arms tightened around her momentarily
before his chuckle rumbled against her back.

“What do you plan to do with me?” Shea asked
sharply.

“That depends.”

“On what?”

It was difficult to keep her concentration on
the conversation at hand when his fingers were drawing maddening
symbols on the shirt covering her belly. It was distracting. She
wished they could have this conversation in slightly different
circumstances. Maybe when they weren’t touching. Preferably with an
entire room between them.

One of his large hands drifted up to tuck
some of her hair behind her ear. She was beginning to get the
unsettling idea of what he wanted. He’d have a fight on his hands
if that was the case.

“Would you stay with me? Be my Tolroi?”

A gentle kiss dropped on the side of her
neck. Shea shivered as lightning arched across her skin.

Through suddenly dry lips, she said, “Your
mistress, you mean?”

The Trateri didn’t marry, not in the sense
the Lowlanders and Highlanders did. They didn’t often see the point
in tying themselves to only one person for the rest of their lives,
instead preferring one night liaisons for the most part.
Occasionally though, one would choose a partner, a Telroi, who
would bare their children and share their tent on a more permanent
basis. More often they took a Tolroi. In the Lowlands, the closest
equivalent would be a mistress. It was often a more temporary
relationship then a Telroi.

Either position was considered a great honor.
Doubly so when the man offering was the Trateri’s Hawk himself.
Shea didn’t want to be honored. She just wanted to be left alone to
do her job.

“That is a Lowlander term,” Fallon growled
behind her.

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t-“ Shea couldn’t
think of a polite way to decline. “I just want to be a scout.”

“I’m afraid that path is closed to you.”

She huffed. Because of him. Because she’d
saved his ass. Again.

She held her body stiffly, making it clear
she wanted to be anywhere but in his arms. His sigh ruffled her
hair and slid across her skin.

His arms loosened, and Shea rolled out of
them, not giving him a chance to change his mind. She spun to face
him after standing. His head was propped on one hand, his gaze a
physical brand on her.

“Since you refuse to be my Tolroi, you’ll
continue in the role I originally planned for you.”

He didn’t mean—

The slightly smug expression on his face said
he did. Shea had never stomped her foot before in her life, but
right at that moment she came close.

“You want me to be your personal guard?” Her
voice rose slightly on the last word.

His lips tilted up in a roguish grin. Son of
a misbegotten revenant, he did.

“Why?”

The grin fell from his lips, leaving the
ruthless warlord behind. Shea stepped away from the fierce
expression. This was the man who had burnt Edgecomb and several
other villages to the ground and then salted the earth. Those
places had been devastated to the point where nothing would grow
for years. In another generation nobody would even know they’d
existed, such was the devastation he had wrought.

“Because it’s what I want.”

And there was the rub. This entire army
revolved around his whims. If he wanted to camp in the middle of a
river, they’d figure out a way to make it happen.

Her shoulders sagged in defeat, and her eyes
dropped to the ground

“Trenton is waiting outside to run you
through what is expected of you,” Fallon said.

Shea nodded and moved towards the door. His
voice brought her up short.

“You’re known to many soldiers now. Trying to
disguise yourself as a boy to escape won’t work again. If you try
to run, I will have the three other men in your team stripped,
flogged and then dragged behind the army until we next make
camp.”

Shea was frozen in place. Horror gripped her
by the throat as she numbly turned back to him.

“Why?” she whispered. “They had nothing to do
with this.”

His face was a mask of stone and his eyes
darkened dangerously as he said, “You know the answer to that.” She
swallowed hard. “Eamon figured out you were a woman on your first
mission. Buck took longer, but he’s known for a while too. Neither
one came forward. That would be reason enough to have them
punished.”

They had known? Shea’s world tilted. They had
known this entire time and hadn’t said anything.

“I am sparing them because they saved my life
and because they make a good incentive for you not to disappear
again. You obviously care for them, or you wouldn’t have stayed so
long.”

She looked at him from beneath lowered
eyelashes. He was right, damn him. She wouldn’t be going anywhere
with that threat over her head. They probably wouldn’t escape with
her either. For them, these people were home.

All of her barely formed plans crumpled
around her. There would be no waiting for the right moment. No
great escape. She was well and truly caught.

Her mouth firmed into a tight, thin line.
Icily, she asked, “If that is all?”

His lips quirked in an acknowledgment of
having won this battle, and he raised one hand to flick his fingers
at her in dismissal. “For now.”

She ground her teeth in annoyance and batted
the door flap out of her way. Vexing bastard. He may have won this
round, but she’d find some way out of this. Eventually.

Shea stormed out of the tent into the
sunshine. Though it was bright and nearly blinding, she didn’t
squint or shield her eyes until they adjusted, as she would have
normally. She was too mad for that.

“Guardsman.”

The encampment that had seemed so huge
suddenly felt stifling. She wanted out. To walk into the great
beyond until there was not another soul for hundreds of miles.
Maybe then she wouldn’t feel as if her skin was too tight for her
body.

People. God, people. Men especially.

“Guardsman Shea.”

Stupid, stupid man. She had saved him when he
was helpless in a spinner’s web. If she had left him there, he
would have been sucked down like a man sized drink of water. But
did he thank her? Nooo. He threatened her, tried to fit her inside
a little box.

“Shea,” a voice yelled right next to her
ear.

“What?” she snapped back, thinking better of
it when she met Caden’s irate gaze.

She gulped and quickly rearranged her scowl
into some semblance of a pleasant expression. Judging by the way
his mouth turned down, she didn’t think he appreciated her
effort.

Shea took a deep breath and then released it
slowly. This man could make her very miserable for the foreseeable
future. It paid to get on his good side.

“I apologize, sir. I didn’t hear you
calling.”

Caden grunted and snapped, “Follow.”

Caden didn’t stop to look behind him, simply
assuming she would follow. Though it rubbed her already raw nerves,
Shea didn’t disappoint and trailed behind as he led her back to
Fallon’s tent and then past it to a smaller one at the end of the
lane.

Shea looked around curiously once inside,
noting the sacks of clothing threatening to overtake the small
space. She had never seen so many shirts and pants in one
place.

“Meynard,” Caden said loudly.

He took up a position next to the screen
divider on the far side of the room where he could watch Shea and
the exit.

“Meynard,” Caden called loudly. “Get your ass
out here, man. I don’t have all day.”

“Must you yell every time you’re here,” a
voice said crabbily from the divider. A weathered hand pushed the
screen aside, and a white haired man with sagging jowls and a
slightly crooked back stepped into the room. “You’re the most
impatient Daisy I’ve ever met.”