of pale violet ran along the edges.
They really shouldn’t be doing that. The vegetation in this forest was unpredictable and deadly if handled wrong. Those could be normal vines or they could be sleeper vines, whose purpose was to hunt and capture prey before dragging it back to the carnivorous flower at the vines’ heart. The flower’s pollen would sedate the prey as it slowly digested the animal while it was still alive.
“Oy, down below,” Shea shouted. “You shouldn’t be doing that. It’s dangerous.”
The taller of the men looked up and frowned before saying something to his companion. They both went back to hacking.
Did they not hear her? It was possible. She was pretty high up.
She narrowed her eyes at them. Some of the clans tended not to recognize Shea yet. She wasn’t as well-known as Fallon and hadn’t been with him that long. She thought it more likely they had ignored her.
She debated leaving them to their fate. The old Shea wouldn’t have hesitated. She would have said their death was on their own heads if they chose to ignore her. Actions had consequences. New Shea was willing to give them a bit of reasonable doubt. These were her people if Fallon had his way. She needed to do her best by them even when it was a gigantic pain in the ass.
She grabbed the rope ladder she’d pulled up after her and tossed it over the edge, sending the secondary rope, which was anchored nearby, after it. Gripping the second rope with both hands, she hooked one leg around the thick rope and slid down.
Moments later she reached the forest floor. She released the rope and flexed her hands. They were a bit sore, but she hadn’t gone so fast as to rip skin off, which was a relief. Injuries to the hands, even small ones like rope burn, hurt like hell and made even simple tasks difficult.
She turned to the men. They had given her descent a sideways glance but hadn’t paused in their task.
Shea gave them a polite smile. “As I was trying to tell you earlier, what you’re doing is dangerous. It would be better to get one of the Airabel villagers to spot you. They have a lot more experience with the flora and fauna in this forest and will know if you’re messing with something that should be left alone.”
The men shared a look before continuing with their hacking. Shea took a deep breath then released it slowly. That answered that. They’d definitely been ignoring her earlier. Should she continue to warn them or leave them to it?
She ran a hand through her hair, leaving the half-tamed mess disheveled and sticking up in odd directions.
She studied the plant. It was possible it was harmless. If so, confronting them was pointless and could lead to trouble later. On the other hand, if she let them continue and they managed to disturb a sleeper vine, they might die. Then there would be all these questions and accusations about how she’d failed them.
It was so much easier when she kept her own council and didn’t care about getting along with the people she served.
“Are you really going to ignore me right now?” Shea asked. She pulled a face at her own stupid question. Of course they were.
She could try ordering them to listen, but she had a feeling that would make her feel even more stupid and ineffectual.
“Hey,” she shouted.
“What?” one of the men finally snapped.
“Did you not hear me? You’re hacking away at something that could kill you. Stop until someone can verify this is safe.”
“We got mothers. We don’t need the warlord’s bed warmer telling us how to do our job.”
Shea’s eyebrows rose. She wanted to say the sentiment shocked her, but it didn’t. She was only surprised that it had taken so long for someone to say something. It was a fact of life that people were going to assume what they wanted to.
Had she been someone different, those words might have hurt. Made her question her self-worth and position. The thing was, she’d earned her stripes through blood, sweat and tears. Her friends knew she wasn’t just some pretty face to warm the warlord’s bed. They knew what she was capable of. These men’s words said more about their little minds than it did her.
Though, she did wonder why they weren’t afraid to say such things to her. Most Trateri treated her like fragile glass, fearing word of their disrespect would get