Mist's Edge (The Broken Lands #2) - T.A. White Page 0,127

attention today.”

Gawain looked at the girl attached to Shea. “Hello, lalu. Could you spare your friend for a few hours today?”

Mist didn’t answer, though Shea could feel her body shaking.

“She must be shy,” Gawain said, aiming a smile at Shea as he stood.

“Something like that.”

“I’m afraid we’ll need your help today,” Gawain said. “As the Hawkvale intends to ride out tomorrow.”

What? Shea hadn’t heard that.

Gawain looked sympathetic to the surprise clearly written on her face. “You hadn’t heard? He made his decision this morning. Those with orders are preparing even as we speak.”

She’d seen Fallon at the midday meal. He could have told her then. Why hadn’t he? Was he afraid to trust her for fear of the information getting to the pathfinders? That couldn’t be it. He may have just been distracted. There could be a million reasons for why he hadn’t told her.

“I’m sorry if this is a surprise. I assumed you knew.” Gawain really did look apologetic.

Shea’s smile held a thread of tension. “I’m sure he just got caught up in preparations. Anyway, if that’s the case I will need to prepare as well. We have several weeks of travel before we reach the Highlands. I can start teaching Ember and Rain the basics on the trail.”

It’d give her more time and also real-world examples to draw from.

Gawain clasped his hands. “Perfect. We will find you then.” He turned to Zeph. “Is that an acceptable plan to you, Ember?”

Zeph eyed him with an odd expression on his face, one Shea couldn’t quite decipher. Holly, at his side, also looked displeased at Rain’s presence.

“That is an acceptable compromise for Ember,” Zeph said. “We will find you on the trail.”

Shea gave them all a look that said she looked forward to it. Or at least that was what she hoped it said. In reality, she was dreading the encounter already.

“It is good to see you again, my fierce one,” Gawain told Daere as she fell into step with Shea.

Daere was reserved as she gave Gawain a nod. “And you as well.”

“I had hoped to spend more time getting reacquainted with you,” he said to her back.

“There will be time for that later,” Daere said. Her smile was awkward. She clasped Shea’s elbow and steered her away from the group, reaching down with her other hand to tug on Mist’s arm.

“What was that about?” Shea asked.

“Nothing.”

Shea snorted. She wasn’t that dumb. “Nothing, my ass. Why did I sense a vague threat behind his words?”

“Because you did,” Daere said.

“Is he a danger to you?” Shea asked, her eyes locked on Daere’s face. If he was, Shea didn’t care who he was or how much Fallon needed him. She’d put a stop to him herself, even if she had to lead the man into a beast’s nest to do it.

“Not in the way you mean.” Daere didn’t look at Shea, her gaze turned forward.

“What do you mean?”

“Gawain is mostly harmless. He’s always been jealous of the attention Henry gives Fallon. It’s one of the reasons he broke off to form his own clan.”

Shea shot a look at Trenton and Wilhelm who kept pace with them. Their attention was directed to the area surrounding them, but Shea would have bet anything that they were listening to every word.

“And how is he not harmless?”

“He’s very good at manipulating people. His ambition has a way of blinding him to everything but what he needs to get what he wants. That ambition has hurt many people along the way.”

Shea took her words to mean that Daere was one of those who fell victim to Gawain’s ambitions.

“So, I shouldn’t trust him.”

Daere huffed out a laugh. “You shouldn’t trust anyone but Fallon and your guards. Haven’t you learned anything in the weeks with me?”

“I don’t remember that being one of the lessons.”

Daere gave Shea a sideways glance. “It was in the subtext.”

“Ah, well. There’s your problem. You’re relying on me to catch the subtext. I’m a straightforward kind of person.”

“I’m beginning to understand that.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

SHEA LOOKED up at the grey cliffs that towered over them, the Trateri warband Fallon had gathered stretched for half a mile behind her. It had taken two weeks to get to this point. Saying goodbye to Mist had been difficult. The little girl had seemed so alone and small when Shea had told her she would be staying behind with Daere. It was one of the few times Shea had regretted leaving.

Now, they stood at the base of Bearan’s Fault looking up at