The Wind's Call (The Broken Lands #4) - T.A. White Page 0,50

set up camp."

"Leave it to the rest. They've got it well-handled." Fiona pointed to a spot near the side of camp. “Set your bags there. No one is going to take anything.”

Still, Eva hesitated, looking back at where Ollie and Jason checked over the horses. They did have things well in hand. What was the harm of visiting the hot spring for a quick dip?

Reluctantly Eva followed Fiona’s advice and set her bags down before squatting to rummage through them for her bathing supplies. At the sight of a perfectly formed green apple, she paused. That hadn’t been in her bag earlier. Had it been one of the things Shea had left her?

She thought she’d seen everything Shea had slipped into the pack, but she must not have.

Eva picked the apple up, admiring it for a moment. The fruit was a rare treat and was one of her favorites. How kind of the Battle Queen—if that was who had left it—to include it in her belongings. Eva took a bite before grabbing the items she needed.

The narrow dirt path Fiona led her down was more treacherous than it seemed. Twice, Eva’s feet almost slid out from under her but each time she caught herself just in time.

It belatedly occurred to her that following the Trateri woman, a stranger until a few days ago, without telling anyone where she was going might not have been in Eva’s best interests.

Stupid Eva. Didn't she know better than most how people could turn on one another? What did she know about Fiona? Really?

She'd seemed nice, even kind when she'd questioned Eva over the deaths of those men, but the cruelest of beings often hid behind the most innocent of facades.

"There you are. I've been waiting forever," a throaty voice said from the ground.

A woman uncurled from where she'd been sitting partially concealed by some surrounding rocks and shrubs, startling Eva.

The stranger was Trateri, her face heart-shaped and her eyes a dark brown. She was short with a softer form than Fiona's, even as her clothes declared her a warrior.

The woman paused when she caught sight of Eva and sent the other Trateri a questioning look.

"Sorry, this one was harder to convince than I thought she’d be." Fiona tilted her head at Eva. "You would have thought escaping setting up camp would have been incentive enough, but she's surprisingly stubborn."

"Stubbornness isn't always a bad thing," Eva pointed out.

The trait had saved her life a time or two. The inability to give in had gotten her to the Trateri. It had enabled her to create a place for herself. Stubbornness was why she was standing here instead of rotting in the ground.

Fiona shot her a considering look. "I never said it was. You'll find most of us are stubborn in one way or another.”

"Some more than others," the stranger remarked.

Fiona swatted at the woman's head without looking. The other woman ducked.

"Someone will likely have something snide to say about my absence," Eva said. "I had to carefully weigh whether this jaunt was worth the trouble it'll no doubt bring."

It was the curse of being considered a throwaway. Everything she said and did was weighed and judged.

"Don't put too much stock in what the nags say," the stranger advised. "The people who run their mouths the most are usually the ones with the least of import to share. Sometimes you only need to let them talk. They'll wear themselves out eventually."

The other woman examined Eva. Her face might be sweet-looking, but her eyes were watchful. This was a woman who didn't trust easily if at all.

Eva was used to such reactions and didn't let them bother her. The Trateri were suspicious of anybody who wasn't them. Her life was one successive instance of having to prove herself over and over again.

This woman would eventually decide whether Eva was worth knowing or not, of being kind to or not. She'd decide what she would. It meant Eva was free to be herself. She'd treat the woman with the caution she deserved until her mind was made up. Eva would then be the one to decide if the woman was worth getting to know or not.

"What are we doing down here?" the woman finally asked, her attention returning to Fiona, dismissing Eva.

Eva mentally shrugged. Being ignored was better than the snipes and jabs. She'd take it.

"I thought this was a good bonding opportunity," Fiona said with an easy smile. "As some of the only women on this expedition, it's