"I hear we have visitors." Eva swung a leg over Caia's back and dropped to the ground.
The mare wouldn't go far, and if she did, she would have reason for it.
With one last pat on Caia's shoulder as Fiona and Drake dismounted, Eva focused on those waiting for them.
As if drawn by a magnet, her eyes landed on Caden.
Everything about him spoke to strength. From the harsh plains of his features, the almost brutal lines belied by the softness of his lips, to the wide shoulders and barrel chest.
Caden might have been considered short for a Trateri, but he was still taller than most Lowlanders.
Underestimating him would be a mistake. Eva had seen what he could do. The explosive power of his body. The exactness with which he could take a life.
Caden hummed an agreement as Eva joined him. He nodded over his shoulder at a line of horses winding their way through the land below.
There were many more than Eva was expecting. Far more than a handful, there were at least a hundred or more horses down there. Enough to make up two Trateri war bands.
"This—" Eva started and then stopped.
She couldn't lie to herself. This wasn't a resupply mission. There would be no convincing the Kyren that the Trateri were only taking care of their own.
It didn't make sense.
"Why would Fallon do this?" Eva asked, feeling lost.
This wasn't the type of behavior she had come to expect from the Trateri leader. The Trateri as a whole placed a lot of emphasis on honor. To break your word was to be considered the lowest of the low. She couldn't see him doing something like this without a very good reason.
"Looks like we're about to find out," a man familiar to Eva said from where he was leaning against a boulder not far away.
Roscoe had a playful smirk on his face as he straightened to watch a trio of riders break from the train to make a beeline toward where Eva and the rest waited.
Roscoe and his friend Ghost had a bit of a reputation. Some might even call them notorious.
Promoted as often as they were demoted, they were Fiona's subordinates. They feared nothing and no one. The Trateri in general didn't have high fear responses, but those two took it to extremes.
If there was trouble, you could bet they'd be hip deep in it.
The only person with a chance of convincing them to listen to a modicum of sense was Fiona. And even that was only fifty percent of the time.
They were every bit the walking disaster that the fire fox was. Despite that, Eva found she liked them.
They played by their own rules. Eva could respect that and even admire it in a way. Wasn't she the same? Forging her own path despite the obstacles that might present themselves along the way.
Then again, they'd also never aimed their particular brand of trouble her way. Maybe if they had, she'd feel a little differently.
"Well, damn. They have the pathfinder with them," Ghost said in a quiet voice.
Roscoe's eyes narrowed into thin slits as he made a point of hawking a giant glob of spit on the ground at his feet. "Son of a bitch. He knows better."
Roscoe rubbed the knuckles of his fist.
Ghost sent him a sympathetic look. "Do they itch?"
"They do, but don't worry. I have a way to make it better." Roscoe made a show of cracking his neck before aiming a bloodthirsty smile at the approaching riders. "His face should do nicely to sooth the sting."
"How about we save the violence until after we get an explanation?" Fiona said.
"Fine, fine. Have it your way," Roscoe muttered. "I would've been only a little violent."
Ghost snorted in laughter. "In your dreams."
The two shared a look as identical grins spread over their faces. The playful expressions fell from their faces as the three riders reined to a stop not far away and dismounted.
The lightheartedness was conspicuously absent as Roscoe and Ghost stared at the newcomers, making no effort to conceal the hardness in their gazes or the reserve on their faces.
Caden's arms were folded across his chest, his face arranged in similar cold lines as he studied the three.
There was a reason many Lowlanders saw the Trateri as emotionless killers, and that expression right there was a big part of it.
They had a habit of separating people into two groups. Us—and them.
For those who were considered "us", their actions were similar to that of Ghost and Roscoe. Playful, a little rough but overall coming from a good place. They had a camaraderie that had drawn even someone as damaged as Eva out of her shell. Made her think that a place among them wouldn't be so bad.
Those who fell into the second group weren't so lucky. They were treated to an impartial coldness far chillier than any Highland winter.
It was a look Eva never thought she'd see aimed at their own. It told her how seriously Caden and the rest treated this.
Eva didn't have any time to consider the ramifications of that before the three's arrival. To her surprise, they were all people she recognized, if only from a distance.
What were clan leaders doing out here?
Eva's expression was pensive as she shot a look from them to Caden.
He stilled, the atmosphere around him turning almost scary.
Eva had come to know many of the faces of her lover over the last few weeks. Despite his reputation as cold and unfeeling, she'd discovered he was so much more—from playful, to seductive, to amused.
However, this was one that had been missing since their arrival in the valley.
It was the look he got when he was considering an unexpected obstacle—or someone he thought he might have to kill.
Eva's frown deepened as she peered at the trio, not liking the lengths Caden might be forced to go to keep this alliance.
The pathfinder with them was the first to breech the silence, offering his hand to Caden with a wry smile.
"I'm sure this isn't what you were expecting," Reece said.
Roscoe and Ghost made a derisive sound, not hiding their sneers.
Reece ignored them, aiming eyes that reminded Eva of high mountain glaciers at her and Caden. The blue so faint and unique you could search a lifetime and not find it in nature.
Like his cousin Shea, Reece was a pathfinder, tasked with connecting the isolated villages of the Highlands to the rest of the world. A thankless job even under the best of circumstances.
Reece had always struck her as honorable—irritated with the idiocy of those around him, but mostly possessing a good heart.
It was why it didn't make sense to Eva that he'd shown up here, dragging the clan leaders of Lion and Rain in his wake. He knew what was at stake, the conditions they'd agreed to in order for Eva to have company in this isolated place. He was aware of what would happen if they broke those rules
"You better have a good excuse for why you showed up here dragging a bunch of dead weight," Caden rumbled.
"Come now, Anateri. You'll hurt my feelings. I'll think you don't like me," the biggest of the three said.
A half smile tugged at the man’s lips, an expression Eva suspected was simply a mask that hid the extent of his ruthlessness from outsiders.
The man's distinctive shoulder length hair looked like someone had caught the sun and poured its essence into its strands. Its color proclaimed his identity as Lion Clan's leader.
Van's gaze slid over Eva before returning to Caden, dismissing her like so many others had.