The smile he flashed her would have decimated anyone over the age of sixteen. It was charm personified. Shea was willing to bet Bax had ladies lined up just begging for his apologies.
Mist peeked at him before burying her head back in Shea. “No.”
Bax’s smile faded and he looked slightly irked. Shea had to fight against a smile. It would be many years before a smile like that would work on the little girl.
The woman at Zeph’s side broke into peals of laughter, the sound cutting through the gathering tension faster than a knife. “Finally, someone capable of ignoring that oh-so-slick charm that you’re known for.”
“Shut it, Holly. No one asked you.” Bax shot the woman a glare.
“No one needed to. As the only other woman in this camp who ever saw through that phony façade of yours, I must show her my appreciation.” Holly came forward, taking a knee in front of Mist. Shea didn’t move, watching with interest this other woman dressed in the same simple garb as the men. While the Trateri allowed their women to serve in the army and carry out tasks traditionally seen as duties only suited to men in Highland and Lowland society, it was still rare to see one who actually fit in that world.
“Hello, little one. On behalf of the numbskulls behind me, I sincerely apologize for the fright you took.”
Mist hands squeezed Shea’s pants a she regarded the other woman with a frown.
“They didn’t mean any harm in it. They really thought they were trying to help.” Holly’s face was open and kind, her expression soft and her eyes warm.
Mist looked up at Shea as if asking permission. Shea smiled back at her. The little girl looked back at Holly and gave a nod, her eyes focused on the ground the entire time.
If nothing else, this incident had at least gotten Mist speaking again. Shea was grateful for that, even if she would have wished the circumstances were different. She kept her happiness at Mist speaking to herself, not wanting the little girl to become self-conscious and retreat back into her shell.
Holly slapped her thigh and stood. “That settles it then. The idiots back there will refrain from any more heroic actions that don’t suit them, and you and I will become friends.” Holly looked at Shea. “So, you’re the Telroi I’ve heard so much about.”
“My name is Shea.” She wasn’t quite sure what to make of this woman who looked friendly and had charmed Mist where her friend couldn’t. “Not Telroi.”
Shea didn’t enjoy being referred to by the role she played in Fallon’s life. She was a person, damn it, with dreams and struggles of her own. If they’d called her scout or pathfinder, that would have been one thing. The term Telroi made her feel like an appendage of Fallon’s.
The skin at Holly’s eyes crinkled as her smile lit up her face. “Very good. I will remember that for future.”
Holly turned to Daere, offering her right hand in a warrior’s greeting. Daere took her arm, clasping it right below the elbow. “It’s been a long time.”
“A few years at least,” Daere said with a smile.
Their body language said they were friends and had been for a long time.
“Can you tell your watchdog to ease up?” Zeph asked, his expression set to rueful.
Shea eyed Trenton where he still stood with his blade pressed against Zeph’s neck. He met her eyes with unhappy ones of his own. She jerked her head. He frowned but obeyed, withdrawing the blade and stepping away. Zeph pressed a hand to his neck, his fingers coming away with blood.
“You were a little overzealous, don’t you think?” he asked.
Trenton gave him an implacable look Shea swore was part of the training the Anateri had to go through. She’d seen the exact same look on more than one Anateri’s face.
“What are you doing here?” Shea asked before anything else could be said that might jeopardize Fallon’s relationship with the Ember clan. Shea was already trying to figure out how to explain to him why Trenton had held a knife on their clan leader and why she’d kicked one of them while they were down.
“Darius’s suggestion. My vanguard and I will be accompanying you and Fallon on your trip into the Highlands. Darius thought you could set us up with a few lessons so we’ll be better prepared,” Zeph explained with a slight quirk to his lips.
Shea arched an eyebrow. “I don’t know why. Clark and Charles usually host the classes on beasts. I help out sometimes but that’s really more their thing than mine.”
“But you’re the expert on all things beast and Highlands related,” Zeph said smoothly. “My men and women deserve the best training they can get. You’re the best so you’ll train them.”
Shea gave him an incredulous look. Did he really think he could order her to train his men? Especially after the whole affair with Mist?
“Am I now?” she asked.
“The class is also full,” Holly said, with a reproachful glance at her clan leader. “Clark said you might be able to help us.”
Shea shut her mouth and stared at the other woman in thought. Clark and Charles would have to be overwhelmed with new recruits for them to pass off this lot to Shea. They’d been trying to grow the concept of the beast class and get more clans participating in it under the assumption that more people meant more information, which meant a more complete picture of what they faced. For them to pass people off to Shea, things had to have gotten out of control.
Shea stared at the five Trateri from the Ember Clan standing before her. It would be so easy to turn them away. Despite their apology, Shea had to wonder if they would have leapt to the same conclusion had she been Trateri. It was one thing to know you were an outsider and another to have it thrust into your face.
Still, could she afford to turn them away knowing that their deaths due to ignorance would be on her head? When such a simple thing as sharing a little of her knowledge would keep them alive? Could she justify withholding that knowledge for any reason?
The answer was no. She couldn’t. Even if they had been enemies she would feel compelled to help them. It might not be the pathfinder way or even the Trateri way, but it was her way. If she could give such a simple thing, she would.
She sighed. “I’ll see what I can do. You do know that it took me almost an entire lifetime to gather this knowledge. There’s no way I can impart all of it in just a few hours.”
“Give us what you can. You never know when something will come in handy.” Zeph sounded distracted as he noticed several men heading their way. The head of the Rain clan was at the front of the group.
They all eyed the newcomers with varying levels of suspicion and distrust.
“Ember,” Gawain said with a nod so slight that Shea wasn’t sure she’d imagined or not “I see you had the same idea as us.”
“Rain.” Zeph’s face relaxed into smooth lines, all suspicion wiped away.
Bax climbed to his feet and stood with his legs spread and arms held slightly bent at his sides. He looked relaxed, but Shea suspected he could explode into movement at any time.
Gawain finally graced Shea his regard. “The Hawkvale’s Telroi. I have been looking for you.”
Shea didn’t miss the dismissive glance that Gawain swept over Mist or the way the child wedged herself tighter behind Shea as if afraid to draw more attention to herself.