funny as he did. She’d found colored rocks in her bags for months. Still, to this day, that commander got a worried look in his eye anytime he saw her with a sling shot.
"That was you?" Ghost asked with an interested look. "We heard all about that even over in Sawgrass company. Everyone had a story to tell about that incident."
Eva dropped her head and groaned. That wasn't exactly how she wanted other people to remember her.
"I'm going to get you for this," she warned Ollie.
He shrugged. "I'm sure you can add it to your list of my indiscretions."
"What's your story?" Laurell said, appearing beside Fiona and handing her a bowl of food before taking a seat with her own bowl.
Eva saw Caden appear out of the shadows like a ghost, finding his own seat around the campfire.
"No story," Eva said. "At least none worth telling."
Ollie snorted into his bowl.
"What?" she asked.
"That's a load of crap," Fiona said before he could.
"She's got you there," Ollie murmured in a voice meant only for Eva's ears.
"Might as well share." Laurell gave her a sympathetic look. "She won't quit nagging otherwise."
"I'm not sure why you're so set on hearing about my past. I'm sure all of yours are much more fascinating," Eva tried.
"We know all of our stories." Fiona pointed at herself. "Daughter to a long line of warriors." She jerked her thumb at Laurell. "Refused to become a weaver and joined the warriors instead." She pointed at Hanna who had taken a seat a few spots away from Fiona. "Joined a clan after her friends warned her not to and is now clanless, yet still found a place for herself next to the silver-tongued general." Fiona jerked her head at Caden. "Rose from his humble beginnings to become the Warlord's Sword. See, we’re all known entities. The only exception is you."
Fiona waited expectantly
Eva got the feeling she could refuse, but if she did the overtures of friendship Fiona had extended might disappear. No more hunting invites; no more odd conversations that made her smile. Eva would return to having the herd, and occasionally Ollie, as her only companions.
She dragged her thumbnail along her bowl.
She couldn't go back to that lonely existence—one she hadn’t realized was so sparse until now. The nights were long; the days even longer. If she wanted out of her self-inflicted exile, now was the time.
"It's not much of a tale," Eva began. "Caia found me one night, and the next day Ollie stumbled on me. I've been tagging along ever since."
Caden watched her carefully. "The mare wandered into a village?"
"No, I was living alone in the Hags’ Forest," Eva said.
Ollie lowered his bowl, his attention on her. She hadn't spoken much of her past, even to him. What had happened was done. She didn't want it influencing her present or future.
"Isn't that dangerous? Even in the Lowlands?" Roscoe asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.
She lifted a shoulder.
"Why?" Caden rumbled.
Eva licked her lips, her eyes rising to meet his. Might as well share. She had a feeling his nagging would be more annoying than Fiona's now that he'd taken an interest.
"It was that or let my village sacrifice me to the old gods," she said in an almost inaudible voice as she shared her greatest triumph and her greatest shame. "I chose to run instead."
Only the crackle of the fire filled the air, making Eva grateful for its warmth, especially when revisiting those dark days chilled her soul.
"Sacrifice?" Hanna asked.
"The Lowlands have many superstitions. When times get tough, its often to those they retreat." Reece's voice floated from the dark.
Eva strained to see him, his figure barely distinguishable as he rested outside the range of the fire's light.
"It's an old custom. One we thought was gone, but when people's bellies are hungry and they think the harvest will fail again, they'll do nearly anything to survive." Eva dropped the stick and wrapped her arms around her legs.
"Even killing one of their own?" Ghost asked disbelievingly.
Eva's smile was sad, conscious of Ollie stiff and unmoving beside her. "Even that." She paused. "But I wasn't really considered one of them. You could say I've always been something of an odd duck. Different. So, when I was picked to water their crops with my life’s blood, I decided to go somewhere where my differences wouldn't matter.” Seeing the stunned shock on their faces, Eva tried to make it seem less awful than it was. “It’s not all bad. That’s when Caia and