You should know you're not alone; no matter how it appears.
Belle and the smaller figure beside her disappeared around the mountain tops.
"I have a new life goal," Jane said into the silence.
"Oh?" Eva asked, her eyebrows rising.
Determination shone in the normally taciturn Anateri's eyes. "Make a mark strong enough a Kyren will want to be named after me."
Eva's eyebrows rose. "Ah ha. Not sure I'd pick a goal that revolves around my death."
But she could see how an Anateri might.
"You've got the wrong perspective there, Caller." Jane allowed herself a tiny smile that seemed as wise as an old woman's in that moment. "It's all about your life and what you do with it before you go."
Eva hummed as she studied the night. "I suppose it is."
Soft laughter came and they looked toward Fiona to find her bent forward. She gasped in between her guffaws.
"Should we do something about that?" Eva asked.
Jane shook her head. "Let her go. She needs this."
Fiona straightened, cupping her hands as she shouted at the sky. "Laurell! You have a namesake; you will be remembered."
Jane and Eva lifted their voices in solidarity, howling their approval at the night.
Gradually, they quieted as the wind carried their voices away.
Fiona took a deep, cleansing breath. "Thank you, Eva."
"I had nothing to do with it. This was all Belle's idea," Eva said, uncomfortable in the face of Fiona's gratitude.
Fiona shook her head. "You did more than you know."
The quiet this time was short, lingering for only a moment before Fiona clicked her tongue at her horse. "Come, Clyde. These next few days promise to be quite eventful. It's best we rest up before things start in earnest."
"For tomorrow brings glory and the chance to soak our blades in the blood of our enemies," Jane said with the air of someone quoting an oft repeated passage.
"They shall fear me. For I am vengeance come to ground. My arm will not falter; my courage will not fail. Nothing, not even fear of death, will prevent me from my chosen course. I am warrior," Fiona intoned.
"And I will be eternal," Jane finished.
Chills shot down Eva's back. Almost as if she was hearing a prophecy of what was to come.
Fiona nodded at the two of them. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Eva let her go, not speaking as woman and horse made their way back to the center of the herd.
"You did a good thing," Jane remarked.
"Like I said, it wasn't me."
"Maybe you didn't make the suggestion, but if not for you Belle never would have had the idea." Jane's gaze was knowing.
It was a reminder that even if her actions seemed small and pointless today, they built up. Maybe someday in the future those seemingly inconsequential efforts would have an unexpected impact.
"Belle made that decision because you showed her not all humans were monsters. She could see Laurell's sacrifice for what it was and appreciate it. That never would have happened if you hadn't come here." Jane nodded at their surroundings. "You apologized before; you shouldn't have."
Eva's attention snapped to Jane to find the Anateri studying her with an astute gaze.
"Our alliance with the Kyren may be at an end, but because of you we still have ties to them. As long as the door stays cracked, things have a chance to change."
Eva looked at Jane out of the corner of her eye when the other woman fell silent. "I think this is the most I've ever heard you speak."
She was touched, knowing it showed the Anateri cared on some level. She was acting like more than a guard protecting her charge. She was behaving like a friend.
"People talk too much. Usually, they have nothing important that needs saying," Jane responded.
Eva snickered.
Why did that feel like the perfect response from one of Caden's Anateri? Like commander, like subordinate.
"I'm going to assume you plan to sleep out here tonight," Jane said slyly.
Eva's laughter faded and she nodded. "I feel like this is where I need to be. I'm sorry that means you have to be out here too."
Jane dismissed Eva's apologetic words with a shrug. "Not the first time I've slept under the sky. Won't be the last unless tomorrow is my end."
Eva made a small moue. "I'd like to pretend we're not on the run from an army that outnumbers us. Thank you very much."
Jane snorted. "You do that. I'll snag us a couple of blankets. It's going to get chilly tonight."
"It always is," Eva said as the Anateri strode away.
Jane returned in a quick fashion, her arms stuffed with two bedrolls. Eva busied herself picking a spot near the middle of the herd, the camp at their back. To their right were several boulders that would provide shelter from the wind.
Unrolling her bedroll, Eva stepped into it, pulling it over her shoulders as Jane got a small fire started not far away.
Eva watched the flickering flames for several minutes, her eyelids getting heavier and heavier until finally she drifted off to sleep.
Midway through the night, Eva roused to find arms wrapped tightly around her. A heat burning into her back.
Eva wiggled deeper into the embrace, recognizing the scent of Caden.
His arms tightened and there was a slight jerk as he came to wakefulness.
"Sorry," Eva whispered.
He made a masculine sound as he stretched. "Don't be. Any time I wake up to a beautiful woman in my arms is a good day."
Eva turned so her front faced his. "Did you finish what you needed?"
Caden rumbled a sleepy sound Eva took as assent. He inched closer to her to press his forehead against hers, their breath mingling.
"I never got the chance to ask how you are." There was a hesitation in Caden's voice as if the subject scared him.
Eva understood what he really meant as she nuzzled her nose against his in silent support. The swarm still terrified her when she thought about it too long.
"We haven't had the time, have we?" Eva asked.
Caden brushed the hair from her forehead and kissed one eyelid. "I would have asked earlier, but I figured it was a subject you wouldn't want raised with an audience present."
"You're right about that." Eva rubbed her cheek against his chest as she drew absent lines across his abdomen.
"What happened?" he prodded when she didn't speak.
Eva tucked in tighter, burying her face against him.
He pulled her up, touching her chin to lift her face. "Talk to me. I can't protect you if I don't know what I'm up against."
Eva's smile was pained. "I don't think knowing will help you."
He caressed her chin, his gaze searching. "Let me try anyway."
Eva looked away.
Caden's grip tightened as determination filled his face. "Maybe I can't fight this battle for you, but I can be beside you for the duration."
She knew if he could, he'd take her place in a minute, but that's not how life worked.
Sometimes you were handed burdens no one could pick up for you. Crosses you were forced to bear for better or worse.
As much as he might wish otherwise, there was no version of events where he could fix this for her.