Pathfinder's Way (40 page)

She eyed the food warily, her mouth filling
with saliva. Just what was he going to do with that stuff? Maybe he
and the other guy had missed dinner too.

He held the pastry to her lips. She moved her
head back.

“Eat,” he ordered.

Her eyebrows lowered as she looked from him
to the next guy. What was this? How did they go from threatening to
kill her to wanting to feed her? It could be some trick, but why?
She doubted it was worth the effort of poisoning her. They were
much more likely to torture a prisoner to death.

“It’d be easier to eat if my hands were
free,” she tried.

“No. Eat.”

The smell of meat was making her hungrier.
She could refuse, but the only one she’d be hurting would be
herself. Eating would refuel her strength. Strength she might need
shortly.

In the end, there was really no choice.

Feeling like an idiot she moved her face
forward and took a tiny bite out of the pastry. She chewed and
swallowed and then took another one. When neither man acted
threateningly, she allowed herself to relax, just a tiny bit, and
applied herself to eating as fast as possible.

Finished sooner than she would have liked
since her stomach still twisted itself into knots from hunger, she
couldn’t help darting her eyes to the water bag in his hand. Seeing
where her attention had gone, he held it to her lips until she was
finished.

Fed and hydrated, Shea sat back and
scrutinized the two of them as the second man took up a position
next to his companion. Neither attempted to question her, letting
the time pass in silence as they stayed locked in a three way
staring contest.

This was a fine mess she found herself in.
She hoped the others were safe and well. Were they being treated
the same or were they right now faced with less friendly
service?

It was tempting to let worry consume her over
her friends fates, but she couldn’t let that happen. She had to
keep her wits about her and see what she could do about getting out
of this situation. Only then would she think about what could be
done for the others.

Several hours later, exhaustion was tugging
at Shea as the adrenaline faded and nothing, good or bad, happened.
Her eyes kept wanting to slide shut, and her head jerked up as she
felt herself nodding off. She squirmed in her seat and tried to tap
her foot to keep herself awake.

This worked for a bit before the effects of
the past few days and the sleepless night began taking a toll. She
fell asleep, her head sagging forward and her body slumping in the
chair.

After what felt like seconds a forceful hand
shook her awake.

Startled from the abrupt departure from
slumber, she tried to stand but was brought up short by the
bindings on her wrists and ankles.

She squinted up and felt her heart almost
stop at the sight of Darius staring down at her with a slight quirk
to his lips. Caden flanked him with the cool expression from
before.

Shea cleared her throat and looked around in
confusion before focusing back on the two men in front of her.
She’d have liked to stand or maybe disappear into her chair, but
that was impossible. All she could hope for now was to bluff her
way through this and hope Darius didn’t recognize her.

“Glad to see we’re not keeping you from your
sleep,” Darius said as the corners of his eyes crinkled
slightly.

Shea shifted in her seat and looked at Caden.
How was she supposed to respond to that? Unable to think of
something that would be appropriate for the situation, she kept
quiet.

“You look familiar,” Darius told her.

Her heart gave a painful thump before
hammering away in her chest at a breakneck pace.

“Uh,” was the only thing she could think to
say.

“I’ve met you before.” He looked at Caden and
then snapped his fingers. “You’re that scout, the one who came up
with the beast board.”

Shea’s mouth was frozen open in astonishment
for a moment before it snapped shut, and she nodded eagerly. “Oh,
yes. That’s how we met.”

“What’s this?” Caden asked.

Darius partially turned and filled him in on
their previous encounter. “Henry was curious why Dawn’s Riders had
significantly fewer field casualties from beasts. During our most
recent tour of their operations, we came across this strange
looking board covered with paper. Someone had come up with the idea
to compile the scouts’ experiences in a central location where they
could compare notes before heading into the wilderness.” He looked
back at Shea. “It was an ingenious idea. Don’t know why we didn’t
think of it before now.”

Shea kept very still, hoping that would be
the only encounter he remembered. Her brown eyes were wary and her
body stiff under his penetrating regard.

“That was your idea, wasn’t it?” Darius asked
casually.

Shea licked her lips and shook her head.
“That was all Clark’s doing.”

“But it sprung from something you
created.”

“I guess.”

“That’s pretty impressive,” Darius told her.
“There’s talk that that board is to going to be implemented by some
of the other clans as well.”

Why was he telling her this?

“It’s something that could save lives,” Caden
said softly, his eyes steady on her face.

Shea’s gaze shot to him while her wrists
twisted against her bindings uneasily.

“Talked to your scout master and fellow
scouts,” Darius inserted out of the blue, bringing Shea’s eyes back
to him. “They said it was your idea to check the other trails.”

Again Shea shrugged.

“That was pretty smart. You probably saved
the Hawkvale and his guard’s life.”

He was leading up to something, Shea
realized. That’s why he’d brought up where he knew her from and
then praised her initiative. He’d probably known exactly who she
was before he ever walked in here. Chances were he’d talked with
anybody she’d ever interacted with. That’s why she was in here for
so long. Long enough for the adrenaline to fade and for her to fall
asleep.

But to what purpose? Maybe to catch her in a
lie or get her to boasting about all her achievements.

Impressive. He was good. He probably expected
to shake some information loose before she even realized what she
had revealed. It was clearly a tactic he’d used before. Caden too,
if the way they played off one another was anything to judge
by.

“How’d you know which routes to look for him
on?” Darius asked.

“Didn’t know. I got lucky.”

Darius arched an eyebrow and pulled a face as
if to say he was impressed. “That’s some luck, you happening on the
exact right place.”

Yeah, some luck. She was handcuffed to a
chair facing an interrogation. If this was good luck, she kind of
preferred having no luck.

“No answer?” Darius asked, arching an
eyebrow.

Caden was a dark shadow at his back, his
hands hanging loose by his sides as he cataloged every fleeting
expression that crossed Shea’s face.

“You didn’t ask a question.”

Darius straightened and gave her a sidelong
glance. “I don’t know quite what to make of you. From what I’ve
gathered from your fellow scouts, they don’t know either.”

Shea met his gaze with an impassive look of
her own.

He clasped his hands behind his back and
said, “Shane, last name unknown. A Lowlander. Village also unknown.
You’ve got skills that are highly unusual for a Lowlander and most
Trateri. Not only can you read a map, but you’re skilled in
creating them as well.” Seeing little reaction, he continued, “I’ve
talked with our scout trainers.” That got some reaction, though a
minor one. “They’ve never heard of any Lowlander named Shane. In
fact, they said no Lowlander had ever completed an apprenticeship.
They were quite insulted when we suggested one had. Seems they
don’t think much of your people.”

Well, crap.

Darius wasn’t done. “Now normally, at this
point, it would be assumed you’re either a liar or a spy. You’re
not entirely a liar because your companions tell me you’re the best
scout they’ve ever worked with. You are also in possession of an
exceptional amount of knowledge about beasts. If you’re a spy,
you’re perhaps the worst one in history. Not only have you been
turning in accurate maps for months now, but you led a scouting
party to the Trateri leader and then put yourself in great danger
to save him.”

Shea resisted the impulse to shift or look
away. She may not have been a spy, but she was definitely a liar.
They had no idea how deep her lies ran.

“Yes, you’re a total mystery,” Darius said,
running his eyes over her.

That had not been her intention. Her hope had
been to appear boring and ordinary so nobody would think to look
closer.

“How did you know to look there?” Darius
asked, a trace of steel threading through his voice.

Shea bit the inside of her lip as thoughts
turned over in her head. As far as she could see, it hurt nothing
to share about the conversation she’d overheard and the rest that
had led to finding Fallon.

Hiding the truth or downplaying what she knew
might even be seen as more suspicious.

“The maps they gave us were wrong.” Shea
watched them carefully for a reaction, but whatever they felt was
kept locked down. Caden’s face stayed serious and stony, but Darius
was just as good at keeping his emotions locked down behind his
blandly amused expression. “Routes were missing and others were
mismarked as dangerous when they weren’t. I tried to talk to the
master cartographer on duty about it, but he left his post before I
could. When I followed him, I overheard him and two others, a man
and a woman, discussing the fact he’d distributed false maps. From
there, it was just a bunch of little things that added up
considering the situation.”

“And what situation was that?”

She gave him an incredulous look. “You don’t
send every scout available out to search for some run of the mill
foot soldier. It had to be somebody important. Important people
always have enemies. It’s not a far jump from there to someone
trying to assassinate the man.”

Darius allowed his lips to tilt upward in a
small smile. “And yet, you’re the only one who leapt to that
conclusion.”

Shea couldn’t help that and in truth it said
more about their fighting force than it did her.

They were wasting time interrogating her when
they should be talking to some of the cartographers. They made the
maps. By now, they had probably checked the maps in question so
they should know she was telling the truth.

The second man could also have corroborated
her story. The fact they were still questioning her said they were
playing some kind of game.

She didn’t know what time it was, but she was
tired. Even with adrenaline keeping her alert, she could feel
exhaustion crouched right below the surface like some great beast
waiting for the right moment to pounce.

“If you checked the maps or even talked to
the other guy we saved, you could find out if I’m telling the
truth,” Shea burst out. Her patience was fast disappearing and with
it the brakes she normally kept on her mouth.

“We have,” Caden said quietly.

Shea inhaled sharply. Then what the hell was
the last half hour about. They must know she wasn’t a spy.

“Indeed. I’ve got men out hunting down the
cartographer responsible for creating the faulty maps. The
cartographer master, scout overseer and Vincent are being held.
Once we’ve got all the information from them we can, we’ll give
them the trial. Those that survive will be exorcised from the
clans.”

“Then why am I still tied to this chair?” Her
voice snapped with anger.

Darius shrugged one shoulder. “Because we
can.”

A power play. Great.

“And for all the reasons I spelled out
before. You’re an enigma that just doesn’t fit.”

Darius waved one of the guards over. Shea
felt a surge of relief as he pulled out a key and began unlocking
her cuffs.

“You’re free to go now. On the behalf of the
Trateri, I extend our heartfelt gratitude at your actions.”

“If this is how you treat people who do you
favors, no wonder no one thought to stray from their orders.” As
soon as the words were out of her mouth, Shea wanted to draw them
back.

Caden’s face darkened at her insubordination,
and the guard drew in a deep breath before giving her a look to say
he thought she was an idiot.

Right now, she kind of agreed. She was an
idiot with a big mouth.

Darius gave her a sidelong look, one that
held a trace of recognition.

“I’ve heard something similar before.”

Shea felt the weight of his eyes as she
looked away to rub her wrists. They didn’t hurt, but she needed an
excuse to avoid his gaze just then.

“It’s odd, but you remind me of her.”
Darius’s voice was thoughtful. “You even have the same color
hair.”

Damn it, she knew she should have kept dying
her hair. After that first night when she had used oil, she hadn’t
bothered. Being out of camp and in the wild for long periods made
it near impossible to keep her hair dyed without drawing
attention.

Keeping her voice calm, she said, “Do I? It’s
a pretty common color in the Lowlands.”

“Hm,” was Darius’s only answer.

“If that’s all, I’ll be on my way,” Shea said
standing and meeting his eyes. It took everything in her not to
bolt at the speculation she saw there.

He waved his hand to dismiss her. She didn’t
delay, giving them a sharp nod and striding to the tent flap. The
whole way it felt like his eyes were burning a hole in her back

“Oh,” Darius said and Shea froze, turning her
head slightly back to him. “Hawkvale will probably want to thank
you himself when he’s recovered.”

She inclined her head and ducked out of the
tent before he could stop her again.