one
Eva's hands paused as a furtive rustling came from the tall grasses not far from where she stood.
One truth she'd come to understand in the months since joining the Trateri, a group of clans that had recently conquered a good bit of the Broken Lands—the Highlands were never quiet.
There was always something. Some noise or sound to keep you company. Even if you were totally alone, not another human for hundreds of miles, there would never be true silence. You only had to listen to hear the wind ripping down from the mountain tops to play in the valleys and ravines below. There'd be the call of birds or the hum of insects. Small animals rooting for food in the grasses and trees.
Eva had long become used to it. To the point she barely noticed anymore, unless a discordant note was introduced into the harmony.
Like now.
Whatever was out there was determined. If not for the way the sounds abruptly stopped every time she looked in its direction, as if fearing discovery, she'd say it wanted her attention.
But that would be ridiculous.
Except, not really.
For some reason, the thought felt right. True. As if there was a little voice in the back of her mind influencing her perception.
Just like before, the movement abruptly stopped as soon as Eva started paying attention.
Moments ticked by; the sudden silence loud. As if the world held its breath.
The dappled gray mare Eva was in the middle of brushing aimed a disgruntled look at her when she paused once again. Caia reached back, lipping Eva's hands in silent demand.
"Fine, fine, your highness. I won't slack off anymore. My bad," Eva murmured to the mare, still preoccupied by their hidden watcher as she resumed brushing, her strokes slower than before.
Caia shook her head, her mane flying in a wordless rebuke before she leaned further into Eva's hands. Even under the best of circumstances, the mare could be demanding, acting every bit the queen Eva sometimes thought of her as. She was even worse when it came time for grooming. Never satisfied until Eva felt like her hands would fall off her wrists from exhaustion.
Sure enough, as soon as Eva took her attention off their watcher, the rustling resumed. The creature's caution forgotten in the face of its goal.
Eva smirked. That didn't take long.
Then again, patience wasn't exactly the creature's strong suit.
At the renewed sounds, a man poked his head over the horse he'd been tending. Unlike many Trateri, he was fair skinned with dirty blond hair and green eyes, a sign that he had Lowlander somewhere in his ancestry.
The Trateri had a long tradition of co-opting others into their clans. A nice way of saying they kidnapped people they took a liking to. Strange thing was, a lot of those people ended up joining the very clans they had every right to view as their enemy.
That was the Trateri for you, though. They had a way of getting under your skin. Making you see things in a different light. Next thing you knew, you were going out of your way to prove yourself. Fighting for a place among them and accepting tents you had no idea how to erect.
Jason leaned his forearm on the horse's back and quirked an eyebrow at Eva in question.
Eva shook her head and rolled her eyes to the sky. She didn't know either.
A soft huff of amusement escaped him. It wasn't the first time strange things had happened around Eva, nor would it be the last.
At least their watcher didn't pose a threat. At least not to their lives. Their sanity and peace of mind? That was an entirely different story.
Eva checked on her guard for the afternoon. Specially assigned to protect her, he was an Anateri, part of a deadly group of warriors whose main responsibility was the protection of Fallon Hawkvale, Warlord and leader of the Trateri clans, along with his interests.
Somehow, Eva had managed to become one of those interests.
She was a Caller. The first in centuries. A title that had slowly faded from memory for all except a select few.
Her ability allowed her to hear the thoughts and desires of mythologicals, a group of beings with the same intelligence and cunning as a human. Mythologicals had long been considered absent from the Broken Lands. It was only recently they'd been freed from their imprisonment in the Badlands.
With them, they brought the potential for a new status quo—and the need for alliances.
That was where Eva came in. She and her newfound ability were the linchpin expected to hold this whole, chaotic mess together.
Her elevation in status brought rewards—but also risk. She'd become the target for every one of the Hawkvale's enemies both internal and external.
Control her, and you gained the potential for leverage over a powerful group of mythologicals. Kill her, and the chances of an alliance went into the abyss alongside her.
Hence the need for the Anateri.
Drake was the easier going of the two tasked with her protection, happy to keep his distance when the threat level was low.
It was why he'd chosen a position on top of a tall boulder that allowed him a perfect vantage point of the valley. Currently, he was lying on his back, hands clasped behind his head as he studied the clouds.
Feeling her eyes on him, Drake swept an idle glance over the meadow. Nothing changed in his posture, his body remaining relaxed.
It was all the confirmation Eva needed. Whatever was out there wasn't a threat.
Not that she'd really been in doubt. As a prey animal, whose senses were highly tuned to the environment around her, Caia would have alerted Eva to danger far in advance.
Eva peeked at the grasses out of the corner of her eye.
Three orange tails tipped in black slipped into view, waving merrily. Eva paused in her brushing again.
Jason slapped his horse's flank in dismissal. The horse moved away slowly, finding another grazing spot as Jason advanced toward Eva.
"What is he doing?" Jason asked, not taking his eyes from the tails.
Eva shook her head. That was a very good question. One she'd like to know the answer to. Preferably before the owner of the tails did something that would come back to bite her in the ass.
The tails froze, going stock still. Seconds passed, tension building subtly in the air.
Eva drew a sharp breath as the fire fox exploded out of the grass in a graceful leap, drawing a perfect arc in the air as he descended headfirst.
There was a squeak and then a crunch before happy growling reached them.
Jason winced. "He did all this to get our attention just to catch a field mouse?"
"Look at it this way. At least someone else was his victim this time."
That wasn't always the case. Over the past month and a half since they’d settled in this isolated valley, the fire fox had found time to play more than one prank.
To call the creature mischievous was kind.
In truth, he was a terror. His tyranny was similar to that of a toddler, only far more mobile and way more intelligent. Not to mention vindictive.
Threats of bodily harm didn't work. Outsmarting him was a fanciful wish, and the attempt usually resulted in him taking an interest in you.
Most ended up regretting tangling with the fire fox. As both Roscoe and Ghost, two of Eva's friends, could attest. They were still discovering prickle thorns, a plant native to the Highlands known for causing rashes, in their clothing and bedding.
No one knew how the fire fox managed to get the thorns into their belongings. Only that he did.
Since then, the rest of their camp had given the fire fox a wide berth.