"Our sentries spotted a large element heading in our direction. Caden wants you present when we meet them."
A hushed silence sunk in after Fiona's words.
"How is that possible?" Jason burst out. "No one was supposed to be up here except us."
Drake stirred, appearing interested. "Trateri?"
Fiona hesitated, shooting a glance at Eva before reluctantly nodding. "It looks that way."
"Then the treaty—" Jason trailed off as he glanced at Eva in dismay.
"Is over," Drake finished, putting into words what they all were thinking.
two
They'd had one rule—don't let outsiders know the location of this valley. A rule, if Fiona's report was correct, they had already broken.
Eva felt almost numb as she trained her eyes on the mountain range surrounding their valley. The first big task entrusted to her, and it looked like she might fail through no fault of her own.
The unfairness of it all was mind bending. Rage inducing even.
Eva released a breath, fighting the urge to curse—or climb on Caia's back and ride somewhere far, far away. A place where alliances and expectations were nothing except an unfortunate memory.
But that would make her a coward—and someone who didn't keep their promises. Eva was neither of those. It would be far easier if she were.
Damn it.
"You think they know already?" Jason followed her gaze to the mountain tops.
Eva nodded. "Oh, they know."
Probably long before any of them. The Kyren, the mythological race they were here to see might have been conspicuously absent since their arrival, but Eva had never deluded herself into thinking they were gone.
They were watching. Observing.
The Trateri scouts responsible for patrolling the area had picked up multiple signs of their presence. Signs Eva had no doubt they'd left behind as a warning.
We're here. We'll see if you break faith.
Why they were refusing to interact with the Trateri or even Eva, she didn't know. They were the ones who'd extended the invitation to her. Practically forced her presence if she wanted to be honest.
She was perfectly happy in her role as a herd mistress. She’d had friends. A mentor. A place she belonged for once in her life.
All of which she gave up to be here, chasing a dream she was increasingly beginning to feel was nothing but a mirage.
Maybe it was best this had happened. It would save her a lot of wasted time and effort.
Even as she thought it, Eva knew she wasn't being entirely honest with herself. There was a hole in the pit of her stomach that said she cared far more than she was willing to acknowledge.
Ah well, what would come, would come, Eva thought as she tipped her head to peer at the sky.
"We should get moving." Fiona guided her horse to face camp. "We won't know the situation until we get there."
Eva's lips quirked. "True enough."
No use crying over something that had already happened. The Kyren would either accept the circumstances or retreat from the Trateri. All Eva could do was take things as they came and hope for the best.
Eva didn't bother with a saddle, mounting bareback in a maneuver that looked effortless but could easily have ended with Eva ending face first on the ground.
It had happened before.
Drake put his fingers to his mouth and whistled. There was a high-pitched neigh from the herd as a chestnut lifted her head and raced in their direction.
As Eva settled on Caia, Jason set one hand on the mare's shoulder. "Don't worry about the herd. I'll take care of them in your absence."
Eva's nod was filled with gratitude. "Thank you."
Jason patted Caia's shoulder, dodging when she tried to take a bite out of him for his presumption. "Don't thank me. You're taking the brat with you. My job just got ten times easier."
Unhappy that she'd missed, Caia bared her teeth in a gesture she'd picked up from hanging with mythologicals too much.
Jason bared his teeth right back before lifting his fist and showing it to the mare.
Caia blew out a huff of air to show her disdain before turning her head away and pretending his threat didn't mean anything to her.
Eva patted her neck while meeting Jason's wry gaze. He shook his head and stuck his hands in his pockets before ambling away.
As soon as Drake was mounted, Fiona touched her heels to the bay's side. "Yah."
The mare lunged forward, her stride quickly lengthening into a gallop.
Eva sent up a small prayer that things weren't as bad as they seemed. It would work out—one way or another.
It took an hour for Eva and the rest to reach the outer perimeter, where sentries patrolled as a precaution.
The Trateri were nothing if not paranoid. A mindset that more often than not worked in their favor.
When your enemy could be anything and everything, from animals to plants to humans or the very land itself, it paid to be on your guard. Particularly when protecting something as important as this valley and all that it represented.
It was why they'd decided to set up multiple perimeters. In the event one was breeched, the sentries could still get a warning to the main camp.
Eva had thought the precautions unnecessary. She'd been overruled.
Good thing too, in light of recent events.
They approached a group of Trateri waiting on the crest of a small hill overlooking the land below. A man in the middle of the pack lifted his head to look at Eva.
A small thrill of awareness slid through her. A knowing every bit as all-encompassing as the one she got anytime she came across a mythological.
Caden was written into her bones. Hers in the same way she was his. Each the other's partner in all things. As essential for her existence as the breath in her lungs.
Even at a distance and with only a fleeting glance, she'd know him.
She'd always know.
It was in the curve of his shoulder. The way he held himself. Aloof and apart. Guarded, as if he expected a fight at any moment.
Understandable since for most of his adult life, he'd been responsible for protecting the life of Fallon Hawkvale, a man with as many enemies as there were beasts in the Highlands. You didn't stand by the side of a man like that without expecting a little bloodshed.
Blue eyes that reminded Eva of the summer sky watched their approach. His gaze a tangible force she was coming to expect from him.
He had a way of focusing on a person that left them almost drowning in his intensity.
Before, that level of focus had scared her. It had always felt like he could see right through her. For someone as insecure of her place among the Trateri as she'd been, it had left her feeling complicated.
Now, she knew it was his way of telling her she was all that mattered. That he'd slay a dragon or fight off a horde of beasts to ensure her protection.
A quiet man, Caden wasn't someone who would ever give her romantic platitudes. He let his actions speak for themselves. Something Eva found she appreciated.
Words could so often be twisted to suit someone's agenda. Their meaning broken beyond repair.
It was a lesson she'd learned the hard way. Between pretty words or action, Eva found she preferred Caden's way of doing things.
Eva sat down a little harder on Caia's back, a signal to stop. The mare snorted and shook her head, standing still a few feet from the Trateri.