Mist's Edge (The Broken Lands #2) - T.A. White Page 0,97

expression.

Mist frowned unhappily but let go of Shea’s pants. Her shoulders drooped as she wandered back to Gala.

Shea gave her a small wave before turning and heading for Clark.

“Are you ready for this?” Clark asked.

“Do I have a choice?”

He laughed. “Not at this point.”

“Then I guess I’m ready.”

Charles stepped up and waved for attention. “Excuse me. Excuse me, can I have your attention?”

The gathered Trateri continued to speak among themselves. Only a few noticed Charles’s attempt at getting their attention and even those went back to their conversations when it was apparent the rest wouldn’t quiet.

“Oi, the game master has spoken. Shut your gobs and pay attention.” Trenton’s shout made Shea jump.

Charles cleared his throat and nodded an acknowledgement of Trenton’s help. Trenton stood back and folded his arms across his chest to fix the rest of the crowd with a glare. Faced with the wrath of one of Fallon’s Anateri, the group quieted and turned their attention to Charles.

“Yes, well. Let me explain the rules. See the three white squares drawn on the ground. You’ll be placed into one of those depending on how many answers to a set of questions you get right.”

A set of hands went up. Their owners spoke before they could be called on. “Who decides the questions?”

“We do.” Charles’s answer was matter of fact.

“Who decides if we’re correct?”

Shea lifted an eyebrow. Who did they think decided that?

Charles’s answer was a little more tactful. “We do.” He waited a beat to see if there were any more stupid questions. “As I said, you’ll be placed into one of the three squares depending on your answers. There will be two ‘beasts’ that you’ll chase once we release you from your square. One is a decoy and the other is your quarry.” Charles gestured at Clark and Shea. They each lifted a hand to show they would be playing the beast. “Your objective is to follow the path they lay out and catch the beast. The first one to catch the correct beast wins.”

“How do we know which is the real one?”

“They will be laying tracks down to indicate what beast they are. The other will lay down different beast signs. It will be your job to determine which is which.”

There was a commotion from behind that distracted Charles from his explanation. Shea shifted so she could see better. Fallon, still clad as he was during his tournament event, stepped to the front of the group and folded his arms across his chest. He must have come directly from winning his last match.

Clark and Charles looked at Shea with amazed and questioning expressions. She shook her head.

She bit her lip and narrowed her eyes on him. What was he doing here?

He cocked an eyebrow at her and turned his attention to Charles. His patient expression said he was waiting for Charles to continue with his explanation of events.

Charles looked at Shea one last time, his face guarded and just a bit frustrated. He hesitated before going on to explain the rest of the rules. Shea and Clark would stick to the outer perimeter of the encampment so they didn’t lose people in the forest beyond. They’d debated for a long time about the boundaries, and it was decided it was too dangerous and unpredictable to take the group past the final sentry line. They also didn’t want a bunch of competitive Trateri running through the inner camp among crowds trying to capture Shea and Clark. There was still plenty of space to hide and track on the outer perimeter.

She snuck a look back at Fallon. His eyes were fastened on her. When he caught her peeking, he gave her a wicked smile. She sighed. Somehow, she didn’t think Fallon cared who was the decoy and who was the beast. There was only one person he planned to hunt.

The question portion of the exercise went quickly. Only those who were frequent attendees of Charles’s beast class landed in the first square. They would hold a distinct advantage over the rest as they would be the first to be released to track Shea and Clark. A handful were placed in the second square with the majority ending up in the last square. There were some grumbles as they ordered themselves into the proper square.

Charles gave Shea and Clark a nod. Trenton straightened and followed them into the forest beyond.

The three made their way to the stash of tools they’d placed in the knot of a tree earlier in the