“You never told me that.”
He shrugged. “Once I found out who you were, it didn’t matter. You could not be Anateri and my Telroi at the same time. We have rules against such things. A relationship of that sort would border on an abuse of power not to mention limit your effectiveness at your job.”
“So, you decided for me?”
The corner of his lips quirked. “If you recall, you did not want to be Anateri in the first place.”
Her mouth dropped. “How was I supposed to know what all that meant? All I knew was that you’d taken me from the scouts without even asking my permission.”
“Every man or woman in my army serves at the needs of the army. Not the other way around.”
Her lips firmed, and she narrowed her eyes at him. She couldn’t argue with that, though she wanted to. Badly. It was the same with the pathfinders. You had some discretion, but at the end of the day it was the organization’s needs as a whole that took precedent. It’s the only way it could be. The sticking point was she’d only been an imposter at that point, a Trateri in name only and part of his army only as it suited her.
“And if I wanted to go back? To become an Anateri?”
There had been a time where she would have said it was impossible to read what Fallon was thinking. That time was gone. His eyebrows, the twitch of his mouth, these things were as plain as day when you knew what to look for. Right now, he was amused. It made Shea want to yank on his tail just to mess with him.
“You would have to give up your relationship with me.” He gave her a look, one with slumberous eyes and a wicked tilt to his lips. “Is that what you want? To give me up?”
He was messing back. She considered him from beneath her eyelashes. Two could play this game.
“And if it is?”
“Then I would step aside.”
“You would let me join the Anateri? You wouldn’t try to stop me?”
“It would be your decision.”
Shea narrowed her eyes on him. There was a catch in there—she could feel it.
The rest of the group moved towards the long tables set up in the middle of the chamber as their hosts began carrying large platters of food inside. Shea and Fallon didn’t move, eyes locked on one another.
Try as she might, she couldn’t find the catch. She finally broke his gaze to move towards the tables.
“Of course, I never said I wouldn’t try to convince you otherwise.”
A light touch trailed down the side of Shea’s neck, setting off a wave of goosebumps that traveled down her spine. Her stride hitched, and she sucked in a breath at the demonstration of just how he would go about convincing her.
He stepped past her as he aimed a look filled with heat her way, one that reminded of her long nights tangled in sheets pressed skin to skin. She met his look with a smoldering one of her own. This time it was his turn to pause, his regarding her in that particular way—part wonderment and part unfiltered desire. It stole her breath as it always did.
“Lady, we have a surprise for you,” Eckbert said as Shea stepped away from Fallon and the almost physical effect he asserted on her body.
“That wasn’t necessary,” Shea said. She figured it was another host gift, a common feature of these dinners.
“It was a surprise for us as well,” Ilyra said. Her voice and face held a hint of caution, and she gave Fallon and his men a small glance before focusing back on Shea.
There was something in her tone. Something that put Shea’s senses on alert.
“How about you show us what this surprise is?” Shea said, her eyes guarded now.
“It’s not so much a what as a who,” Eckbert confided. He seemed as reserved as Ilyra. It was a shift in the façade he’d presented earlier.
Yup, she was definitely not looking forward to whatever was coming.
Eckbert and Ilyra shared a glance. An entire conversation seemed to take space in the span of moments. With a huff, Ilyra gestured at one of the attendants who turned and walked off.
“What’s this?” Fallon asked, as he looked at the two leaders as he would a possible threat.
“The villagers have a surprise for us,” Shea said through gritted teeth.
“You don’t sound pleased about this.”
“Probably because I’m not.” Her response was low, almost inaudible.
Fallon’s gaze was thoughtful as he looked from Shea to their hosts. He made a gesture and the Anateri shifted, one moment seeming harmless and at ease, and the next second on their guard, watching their surroundings with suspicious eyes. There was a thread of tension that coursed through them and Fallon’s generals. One that hadn’t been there before. All from a simple gesture from their warlord.
There was a commotion at the entrance across from them as the villagers parted and two figures stepped inside. The first was the villager Ilyra had sent off.
Shea drew in a sharp breath at the sight of the second, a man only a shade taller than the villager. Shea knew even before getting a closer look that he would have eyes of the palest blue, the kind that Shea had only seen rarely in the very northern parts of the Highlands, where giant ice sheets marched back and forth across the land as the seasons changed.
“Reece.” Her face was stricken.
It couldn’t be. He was never assigned this far south, as he said the Lowlands were much too tame for the type of work he liked. No, they never would have sent him here.
His pale blue eyes flashed at her, and he gave her a mocking look, taking in the brooding warlord at her side. He cocked his head at her and shook his head.
“Warlord, Lady,” Eckbert nodded to each of them respectfully. “May I present a traveler who came to us last night and requested an audience with your esteemed selves.”
“And just who is this traveler?” Fallon asked, his voice a lazy whip. He was in warlord mode, his face a mask that said he could crush this entire tree without breaking a sweat.
“Pathfinder Reece, at your service.” Even with the half bow, Reece managed to put a world of disdain and attitude into that statement.
“Pathfinder.” Fallon’s words were like a stone thrown into still water, bringing the focus of the entire gathering down on them.
The circle of Anateri tightened around the three of them. The two village elders had the sense to look uneasy at being between the Anateri and the stranger in their midst.
Reece rose from his mocking bow. “Indeed, much as your lovely companion there once was.”
Fallon didn’t take his eyes off the other man. Nonetheless, Shea knew what he was waiting for. “He’s not lying. He is a pathfinder.”
“What are you doing here, pathfinder?”
Reece cocked one eyebrow. “It seems you didn’t respond to my note, so I was forced to take matters into my own hands.”
The smile that broke across Fallon’s face was the stuff of nightmares. It was victory and retribution all at once. Reece blanched, looking for a moment like he finally realized the extent of the predicament he was in.
“And are you the same person who left that note on our pillow?” Fallon’s voice was silky. He didn’t move but the space suddenly seemed a lot more cramped.
He didn’t wait for the other man’s assent, springing forward before anyone could react and grabbing Reece by the collar of his shirt. Fallon lifted him half off the ground and shook him. “I need to pay you in kind for that little stunt.”