The Wind's Call (The Broken Lands #4) - T.A. White Page 0,68
her shoulder. "Suit yourself."
Alone, Eva moved through camp, pausing to check on the string of horses. Caia pulled loose with a whicker of greeting. Jason had learned quickly not to keep the gray tied too tightly, or risk upsetting the entire herd.
Eva moved through the string, greeting a few of her favorites, including Caden’s piebald stallion. Unlike his serious master, Nell could always make Eva laugh with his goofy antics. Watching him and Caia jockey for position went a long way to soothing some of Eva’s tension from the day.
She had to admit—Jason was doing a good job, picking up the slack Eva couldn't help but drop due to her preoccupation with Sebastian.
The Kyren landed at the base of the cliff, content to keep to himself. Eva caught a glimpse of Ajari perched on a ledge high above, his feet swinging over the edge as he watched the water.
Eva hesitated, knowing she should check in but wasn’t able to bring herself to walk in their direction. She’d had enough mythologicals for one night. She needed sleep and time before she could deal with them again.
Instead, she headed to the fire and found a small rock to claim as a seat, unsurprised when moments later Ollie settled beside her and handed her a bowl filled with seared meat flavored by whatever herbs or plants they'd encountered during their journey that day. Tubers cooked in the same fashion were the only nod to vegetables for the night.
Eva was grateful all the same.
Ollie relaxed with a sigh, shaking out his arm.
"Rough day?" Eva asked sympathetically.
He grunted, sounding surprisingly out of sorts for her normally chipper friend. "A bay stepped on my foot and then another of the brats bit me."
She raised an eyebrow. It seemed the warriors’ horses were in no better mood than their riders.
"How about you?" he asked, nodding toward her two pains in the ass.
"One of them dumped me on my ass and the other decided threats were the way to get me to do what he wanted," Eva said.
Ollie whistled. "Guess he doesn't know you too well."
"I wouldn't be too sure. I ended up doing exactly what he wanted," Eva said sourly.
"I'm sure it's only a matter of time before you turn the situation to your advantage." Ollie filled his mouth with another forkful of the meat. He chewed then swallowed. "That's my favorite trait of yours. You always find a way to make things work for you."
He had more confidence in her than she did.
Fiona flopped down across the fire from them, Ghost and Roscoe joining her.
"How was the hunt?" Eva asked.
"Successful," Fiona said, waving a hand at where a couple of the warriors were finishing up preparing the meat. It would feed the second wave. What was leftover would be tomorrow's meal.
"You should have come," Fiona teased.
Ollie snickered. "Eva's not really much of a hunter. Remember that time when you shot Landon in the ass with a slingshot?"
Fiona looked at Eva with interest, sensing a good story. Eva narrowed her eyes at her traitorous friend, saying through gritted teeth, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Tell us," Fiona urged, her eyes alight with excitement.
Ollie chuckled. "It was the first month after she joined us. Hardwick sent us and the rest of his apprentices at the time to scare off some predators who were harassing the herd."
"That was a long time ago," Eva protested.
"Not that long," he pointed out, before scooting forward on his rock. If there was anything the Trateri loved more than fighting, it was telling a good story around the campfire as night deepened around them. "You should have seen her. I don't think I've ever seen anyone worse with a slingshot."
Eva hung her head, knowing no amount of interference on her part would prevent the coming tale. She took up a stick, stabbing it morosely at the fire.
"She thought she finally had the hang of it but instead managed to nail Landon in the ass. Remembering the look on her face and the way he screamed before taking off across the pasture still makes Hardwick laugh. Landon thought a rat had bit him. It took all of us to catch him."
"It wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't startled the horses," Eva grumbled.
"Which made them stampede through camp. The commander of the watch thought we were being attacked and tried to launch a counterattack." Ollie could barely breathe as he related the end.
Eva stabbed harder at the fire, not finding it nearly as