Fine, if that’s the way he wanted it. No one said what time she had to go to bed. She’d just take a nice walk, maybe catch a nap while she was out. As long as she was back before they took off in the morning, he couldn’t accuse her of running off.
She stalked away, heading into the woods.
Her feet whispered through dead foliage as she made her way silently. She’d chosen to head into the deep forest, following a nearly nonexistent game trail. Coming to a steep hill, Shea veered off the path, picking her way past boulders and up a steep slope until she stood on the ridge.
Behind her lay the valley Fallon and his men camped in, while in front of her was a panorama of jagged hills and shadowed hollows. And trees. Lots and lots of trees.
She walked along the ridge line, careful of where she put her feet, not wanting to misstep and roll down the hill. It required all of her concentration and soon the frustration and anger from her encounter with Fallon drained away as the peace and serenity of her surroundings soothed her soul.
She missed the wide open expanses of her Highlands something fierce, where the only thing that shielded her view were steep mountains so tall they touched the stars. The heather and wild flowers in spring that turned an austere landscape into a thing of beauty. The enduring glory of the terrain that had existed for thousands of years and would continue doing so for thousands more.
After a day of constant riding, her legs and back welcomed the movement, though they began protesting before long. Noting an interesting formation of boulders in the distance that would give her an excellent vantage point over the valley and surrounding area, she pushed on with a goal in mind.
Finally she stood at the top of a rocky ledge jutting out from the side of the ridge, allowing her to walk out and sit on its edge, her feet dangling over the side. The sun was a giant orange ball as it set over the valley. In an hour, maybe two, it would be hidden from sight behind the mountains and the entire valley would be cast into shadow until true night fell.
Shea would have to head for lower ground before then or be stuck up here for the night. The path she had taken to her perch was too uncertain to attempt in the dark. For now though, she enjoyed the last of the day’s light and breathed deep as she basked in the calm of the world around her.
Shea shut her eyes to listen harder. Something didn’t belong. A sound, so faint and discordant from the normal sounds of animals, wind or trees, that she would have discounted it if she’d had less experience. Shea couldn’t quite place her finger on what it was about the sound that seemed off. All the dips in the hills made sound travel and rebound.
Shea tilted her head.
There.
Voices coming from not too far away.
Crap. Had Fallon sent men after her?
No. The voices were coming from the wrong direction. Furthermore, she thought she heard horses as well. No way could his men have gotten the horses up the path she’d taken.
Shea moved away from the ledge, keeping low. Since she didn’t know who these people were, it was best to approach the situation with caution. They might just be traders traveling from one town to the next. They could be Lowlanders out hunting. Or they could be decidedly less friendly. Staying hidden afforded her better protection than the sharpest blade and best weapons training ever could. You couldn’t harm what you didn’t know was there. She could always reveal herself later. Or not.
The noise sounded like it was heading directly towards her. Shea moved further away from the ledge, finding a little hollow between two of the rocks and tucking herself inside it.
Then she waited.
“Do you really think her plan will work?” a man asked plaintively.
“Of course, it will. The lady hasn’t been wrong once.”
Their voices were slightly muffled but perfectly understandable. Shea resisted the urge to stick her head out for a glimpse of the speakers. Hearing their conversation was more than enough. There was no need to risk discovery. Especially since they were making no attempt to be furtive.
“She did say she was forming a union with Fallon,” the first man pointed out. “That never happened, and she never made good on her promise to elevate our clan’s status.”
Fallon? What did these two have to do with him?
“You know he led her on, making promises until she allied with him and then breaking every single one. The man’s an oath breaker.”
“It doesn’t feel right, though? What we’re doing. This is dirty business. If she wanted him out of power, she should challenge him, face to face, as is our way.”
“And be killed? Where would our clan be then? You know he’s never lost a challenge.”
There was a pause. Then the first man declared, “I don’t like it.”
“You don’t have to like it,” the second man scoffed. “Just do what you’re told.”
Another silence followed, broken only by the sounds of the two moving around. It sounded like they were on the outcropping Shea had rested on earlier.
“Where is he anyway?” the first man burst out. “We’ve been looking for him and his men for hours.”
“Oh for the love of all that is holy, will you quit whining?”
“He may not even be out here. How do we even know the intel is good?”
“He’s out here.” Shea could hear the struggle for patience in the second man’s voice. “The lady herself came this time. The information’s from a very reliable source.”
The two lapsed back into silence.
After what felt like an eternity of waiting, but was no doubt minutes, the second man said, “Let’s go. I don’t think we’ll be able to take the horses any further, and we can’t see anything here. Too many trees in the way. We’ll head back and see if any of the others have pinpointed their location.”
There was a murmured assent and then the sounds of movement heading away. Shea waited several minutes after the last sound had faded before peeking out of her hiding spot. Seeing no one, she stepped out.
That was a very interesting conversation. One that could have ramifications for her.
From what she could tell, the two men were part of an ambush party led by a mysterious woman. A woman, Shea strongly suspected was the same woman she had overheard the cartographer talking to right before Shea rescued Fallon.
This would make the second attempt on Fallon’s life that Shea knew of. If she was a betting woman, she’d say her first encounter with Fallon in the village of Edgecomb had been another. Three attempts on one man’s life. An important man with an army at his back controlled only by his iron fist.
She knew that despite Fallon’s brutal tactics in conquering the Lowlands, things could be much worse for the people here. She shuddered to think what his army would do should he be murdered.
The traitors in his own camp would likely cast doubt on the Lowlanders in the area to distract his men from finding the real murderers.
The Lowlands would run red with rivers of blood as the Trateri avenged their fallen leader. Someone they counted as a hero who would lead them into a golden era. At the end of it all, the traitors would probably have exactly what they wanted, control of the Trateri and all the Lowlands but without the vision Fallon brought to his conquest.
Or, conversely, it could cast the Trateri back into turmoil with each clan battling with the next. And the Lowlanders with a front row seat to it all.