They didn’t speak much after that, and Shea fell asleep where she was, in front of the warmth of the fire with Fallon’s soothing touch in her hair.
*
Shea stepped onto the bottom stairstep and looked around. Sometime in the night Fallon had carried her back to bed. Somehow, she’d slept through the transition, a testament to just how tired she was.
It had left her feeling a little more rested, even if she’d woken to an empty bed, Fallon having decided to let her sleep a little longer as he got up to pursue the day.
She didn’t bother trying to track him down. He was probably training with his men, his presence driving his position home and letting them know they weren’t alone.
She drifted toward the dining hall and the food that waited there. Although her mother was a stickler for people attending the evening meal, breakfast was a less formal affair and allowed people to file in and out all morning.
Today was no different. Shea grabbed a plate and headed over to the platters piled with food. She grabbed some bread and eggs before making her way to a table in the very back.
There weren’t many people here at this time of the morning. There were a few Trateri, probably the ones who’d just come off a guard shift, and even fewer pathfinders.
Shea had only been sitting for a few moments, when a plate plopped down in front of her and Fiona sat down.
Shea paused in her chewing as the other woman settled herself into place.
“I never did thank you for saving me,” Fiona said. “That’s twice over I owe my life to you.”
Shea arched an eyebrow. “I seem to recall it the other way. If you hadn’t attacked when you did, Braden and I would have probably died.”
“Either way, I know you’re why we got out of there. If you hadn’t acted the way you did, we would have all been goners,” Fiona said.
Shea didn’t know how to respond to that—especially when she still felt partially responsible.
“Don’t mention it,” Shea finally said. “I did what was needed.”
Shea took another bite and looked around. A young pathfinder, just barely out of apprenticeship, caught her eye as she ducked her head. The pathfinder turned to her companions, her face animated as she spoke. She and her companions snuck several glances at Shea and Fiona as they whispered to each other. A stifled laugh floated towards Shea.
The food in Shea’s mouth turned to dust. She placed the half-eaten roll back on her plate, suddenly full. She pushed back from the table and stood.
“Where are you off to?” Fiona asked.
“Need to track down Eamon and then I’m going to check out some of my old haunts,” Shea said.
“Mind if I tag along?” Fiona asked. “I have something to take care of with the scouts and have to go that way anyway.”
Shea shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
Fiona stuffed a few more bites into her mouth before following Shea. They left the dining hall behind and headed out into the courtyard, dodging around a wagon and several pathfinders.
Eamon wasn’t in the first place she looked. She’d hoped to catch him where the majority of Fallon’s people were staying, but the sleeping area lay empty. She headed to the stables next but was told he wasn’t there either. One of the Trateri she ran into directed her to a training area between the outer most curtain wall and the inner one. She thanked him before she and Fiona headed that way.
“This place is much bigger than I expected,” Fiona said. “Almost as big as some of the Lowland cities. Less people, though.”
The sentiment was expected. Most people don’t expect to see city-sized settlements above the fault. Life was too harsh up here. With a few notable exceptions, they’d be right.
“I’m told we once filled this place, but our population has dwindled over the past few centuries,” Shea said as they walked along a low retaining wall.
The Keep grew much of its produce during the short summer months and had set up fields within the Keep’s outer wall. They weren’t as productive as Lowland fields, given the short growing season, but they would keep the inhabitants from starving.
They stepped onto a short veranda, a field spread out below them, the outer curtain wall behind it.
Fiona nudged Shea and pointed. “There’s Eamon.”
Shea nodded and followed as Fiona stepped onto the stairs that would lead them down.
