Giving up on escape, for the moment, Shea relaxed into the seat and looked around.
The Trateri had made an art form of turning their tent’s into luxurious homes. They were typically better decorated than most Lowlander or Highlander homes, containing beautiful, hand carved furniture made from old oak and rugs dyed the richest shades of blue, green and yellow that Shea had ever seen. As a people, they appreciated surroundings that were comfortable as well as beautiful to make up for the times when they had to live rough.
This wasn’t one of those tents. Empty of all furniture except the chair Shea was handcuffed to, there were no rugs, no tables, no sitting pillows or brightly colored fabrics. The walls were just the unadorned white base canvas over a weed covered patch of ground. Only two hanging braziers kept the space inside well-lit with an orange glow.
Something told Shea this was where they brought prisoners when they needed to extract information. It wasn’t even as nice as the area Darius had stuck her in that first day.
The second man ducked in, allowing a brief glimpse of a campfire before the tent flap dropped. He was in his late twenties and slimmer than his companion with a leaner, rangier frame. His face was thin and his eyes spaced the slightest bit too far apart, but their pretty hazel color made up for that. If Shea had never met Fallon, she would say this man’s eyes were the prettiest she’d ever seen.
They were a dark brown that was almost black and his skin was darker than most of his companions. His was broad and chiseled out of stone and his body big and filled with muscles. His hands were the size of boulders. One hit from them would crush her.
Shea really hoped they wouldn’t be hitting her before the night was through.
The second man approached, carrying a bag of water. He also held one of the meat pastries the soldiers packed when heading outside the camp. They were filling and traveled well.
Her stomach growled, loudly, and her mouth was suddenly dry and filled with sand. Until the smell of food taunted her, she hadn’t realized just how hungry and thirsty she was. Hours had passed since she’d last eaten.
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.