Tanay’s grubby hands froze at the bottom of Damini’s tunic, as though he had meant to pull it up and tan her pretty ass instead of her shoulders as was customary. In front of the entire platoon. Red streaked across Nadine’s vision.
“Captain,” she barked.
Tanay straightened and dropped the hem of Damini’s tunic. Nadine marched forward between the two columns of women she commanded. They stood straight as marble statues when she passed. Tanay’s expression grew defensive before he dragged his brows together in a scowl as Nadine came close. He snapped up a bottle of something from Damini’s bed. Perfume, from the looks of it.
“Your soldier was in possession of contraband. I unearthed it during inspection.” He thrust the clay jar out like a weapon. Or a shield.
Nadine never slowed. She snapped it from his fingers. “Actually, that’s mine.” As if she’d ever bother with something so frivolous.
Damini’s jaw hung slack, but she wisely kept silent. The girl shuffled away from Tanay the barest of inches, shooting glances between him and Nadine.
Tanay sputtered. “It was under her pallet!”
“Feel free to discipline me, Tanay. If you think it appropriate.” Nadine stared down at the man with an unmistakable challenge. He shrank.
Smart, little man.
Nadine tsked at Damini, who scurried back to her place in front of her pallet.
Tanay watched her go as if she were a rabbit who’d slipped his snare. He narrowed his eyes at Nadine. “I thought you’d been given over to appease the savages.”
Nadine slithered a contemptuous scowl up and down the length of him. “Seeing as you’re so far removed from the Mushar’s inner council, I’ll overlook your ignorance.”
Tanay blinked, then his face went red.
Footsteps sounded at the end of the corridor. Priya, Nadine’s lieutenant, entered the barracks. She stopped and saluted both of them. “Captain Pajel.”
Nadine remembered why she’d come here in the first place. She walked back down the line toward Priya, then paused . . .
Anaya is incorrigible.
Nadine bent down and plucked the flask of hornet mead from the woman’s stacked boots. Anaya, who stood at the end of her pallet like the other soldiers, stiffened at the reveal of her secret stash. Nadine turned back toward her company’s unwanted guest.
Tanay’s expression darkened as Nadine unscrewed the flask and tossed back the contents. She drank in long, greedy gulps, which resounded in the stillness of the room. At last, she sighed and wiped the dribble against the back of her arm. Eyes still on Tanay, she thrust the flask to Anaya’s chest. “Wash that for me, soldier.”
“Yes, Captain,” Anaya said, a whisper of gratitude in her voice.
Tanay scrunched his nose as his head tipped in a nod of resignation. Nadine saluted him with an outward slash of her open palm, and took care not to sway as she turned. Pleasure suffused her at the feel of his angry gaze burning into her flesh. Or perhaps that was just the mead.
Nadine and Priya strode into the hall. When they were out of hearing range, Priya whispered, “He’ll report you to the jemadar.”
“Let him.” Let the pup whine over his lost bone. She wouldn’t be here to listen to the yapping. Nadine knelt to snap up the bag she’d dropped in her haste to thwart Tanay’s abuse. It contained her few worldly possessions. She didn’t know how fast things were about to move, but she had to be prepared for anything. Nadine hurried toward the barrack’s street entrance. Priya trotted along beside her.
“So . . . is it true? About the savages?”
Nadine grunted. “Yes.”
“You can’t be serious.” Priya stopped in the middle of the hall.
Nadine narrowed her eyes and threw a glance over her shoulder at her second-in-command. The morning sunshine lit Priya’s slender figure. Shock skewed the beauty of her feminine features.
“Does it look like I’m joking?” Nadine asked.
The lieutenant blinked, then smirked at Nadine. She resumed walking. “I can’t imagine you joking about this. I was implying you must’ve taken a blow to the head.”
Nadine snorted. “The savages have no sense. You should’ve seen the look of horror on their faces when they realized a woman would be leading the Ebronians for this mission. They’re only used to thinking of women on their backs or their knees.”
Priya shrugged. “Your sister seems happy enough with one.”
Nadine stiffened at the mention of her older sister.
Lavinia had been victimized by the barbarians twelve years prior. She’d been kidnapped, kept away from Ebron until the day she’d shown up at the city gates with a slew of the Dokiri riders in tow.
“My sister was their prisoner for too long.”
“And what about you? Will you stay with the barbarian when the mission is done?”
Nadine scowled at her.
Priya waved her hand. “I hear the savages are possessive of their women. What if you can’t get away?”
Nadine stomped down the corridor. “I’m not the typical half-wit those beasts are used to running off with.”
And she wasn’t the sweet, submissive type like her beloved sister. Nadine was a warrior, tempered by fire and edged with steel since the time she was a girl. She’d survived more than most. To complete her mission, she could survive a simple barbarian.
“What if you don’t want to escape them?”
Nadine picked up her pace with a long-suffering sigh. Priya sent her a look of manufactured remorse. The mischief bubbling beneath the surface was popping and throwing acid drops onto Nadine’s parchment-thin patience. Apparently, Priya couldn’t see the edges singeing.
“I’m just saying, they can be quite . . . winning.”
“And how would you know that?”
Priya cocked her head. “I’ve heard things. Some of the Dokiri have made quite the conquest of Ebronian maids. Did you know they can’t sire females in their own clans?”
Nadine did know. She’d learned as much from her sister and new brother-in-law, who were absolutely certain their unborn child would be male. No wonder the savages were so close-minded. The only women they’d ever been exposed to were those they brought to their lands through terror and force. Magnus the Vast didn’t know what he was in for.
“I’m sure I’ll be able to withstand the charms of men who weave bones in their hair and swing axes like they’re splitting wood for their little campfires.”
Priya raised her brows thoughtfully. “And I’m sure their impressive height and glorious mounts don’t affect you at all?”
Nadine rolled her eyes to hide the direction of her thoughts. Their height was one thing; their mounts were another. The great beasts had been the first thing Nadine noticed when they’d landed outside Ebron. Even now, the memory sent a thrill of appreciation down her body.
“And I hear your barbarian is particularly popular. He’s called the Vast, right? One has to wonder—”
“Do you know what I think?” Nadine asked.
Priya hurried to keep pace with her captain as they strode around the corner into the nearly empty dining hall. The smell of leather and burning gruel filled Nadine’s nose. Home. Would she miss it?