“Is she mute?”
Shea shook her head. “Chirron didn’t think so. I think she just needs to get comfortable before she opens up.”
Daere’s gaze was pensive as she stared at the girl. To Shea’s surprise, she hadn’t protested Mist’s presence when she’d arrived to speak with Shea about preparations for the upcoming journey. In fact, the woman had seemed all too eager to have the girl join them.
Shea had expected at least some protest, maybe Daere pointing out how it wasn’t seemly for the Warlord’s Telroi to have appropriated an orphan. Again, the other woman had surprised her.
“Have you explained that you’re leaving yet?” Daere asked.
Shea shook her head. That was why they were out here. It wouldn’t be long before Fallon and his men were ready to depart—maybe days. Shea didn’t want to disappear on the little girl, but there was no way she could bring Mist with her into the Highlands. Not when she still didn’t know what they were walking into.
Daere’s expression reflected understanding, and she turned the conversation to other matters. “With her name, I suspect she may have originated from the Rain Clan. Some among our people will give their children names that honor their clans and show solidarity with them.”
Shea nodded. She’d thought that too, but hadn’t wanted to say anything until she had proof. She had to move carefully or risk alienating certain sects of the Trateri even more than she already had.
“She won’t speak of what came before,” Shea said. “It is making things difficult.”
Daere nodded. “I’m sure you’ll track them down. You are nothing if not resourceful.”
Shea raised an eyebrow, amused. “That almost sounded like a compliment.”
Daere met her eyes with a sardonic look of her own. “Don’t let it go to your head.”
Mist drifted toward a white ivy. It wasn’t deadly, but it would leave the child uncomfortable and with a nasty rash for a few days.
“Mist, don’t touch that,” Shea said. The little girl jerked her hands back, her shoulders hunching. Her wide, frightened gaze swung to Shea. Everything about the little girl shouted fear, from the crumpled expression to the way she held her body. It made Shea’s chest hurt to see that expression on her face at just four little words.
Daere cursed softly enough that the little girl wouldn’t hear them. She kept her face arranged in a pleasant expression—a feat that Shea envied—as she said words that made even Shea’s ears burn. “When we find the people who hurt this little girl, I am going to enjoy visiting some of the tortures of the afterworld on them.”
Shea couldn’t agree more.
“I’m not mad at you, Mist,” Shea reassured the little girl. She came and knelt beside her and pointed at the cluster of leaves Mist had been about to touch. “See the white veins in the middle and the darker green on the edge.”
The fear didn’t fade from Mist’s eyes even as she looked where Shea was pointing.
“There’re usually three leaves that come to a point; like this. Do you see?” Shea used a stick to point out the different features, softly touching each feature as she described them. Mist frowned as she looked where Shea indicated. “It’s white ivy. It’s not really poisonous. At least not in the way we think of poison. There is a sticky oil on the leaves that most people are highly allergic too. That’s how it causes a blistering rash. If you see three, leave it be.”
Mist nodded solemnly after Shea finished, her eyes so serious as she mouthed the last phrase to herself.
“You know, Mist, Fallon and I will have to leave on a journey soon.”
The little girl’s head shot up, and she looked at Shea with horrified eyes. Shea’s heart clenched at the fear she saw on Mist’s face.
Mist gestured to herself and then Shea, her hopeful question clear.
Shea shook her head. “I’m sorry. You cannot come with us. Where we’re going is too dangerous to bring you along.”
Mist’s face fell, and she directed her attention down at her feet.
Shea saw that she was losing the girl and tried to console her. “My good friend, Daere, will look after you while we’re gone.”
Daere smiled at the little girl, her expression warmer and softer than anything Shea had seen before. She came and knelt beside Shea. “Hello Mist. I am very happy to meet you.”
The little girl looked unconvinced and sent a reproachful look Shea’s way. It would have been funny if there hadn’t been desperation behind Mist’s eyes.
Seeing it, Daere said, “Shea said as a treat she would teach us a little about the forest before she left, and when she gets back she will teach us about more of the Lowlands. Isn’t that right, Shea?”
Mist looked between Shea and Daere with suspicion before finally giving Shea a hopeful expression.
