After finding their temporary quarters, Eamonheaded out to give his report to the task commander. Shea followedsince she had to return the map to the cartographers so they couldincorporate her observations into the next generation of maps. Italso prevented the maps from falling into the wrong hands.
Eamon stopped in front of a blue and beigepatterned tent and took a breath before stepping inside. Sheadidn’t envy him the report he had to give and continued on to thenext tent. It had a banner planted in front picturing twinmountains with a horizontal wavy line under them that depictedwater. She brushed aside the flap and stepped inside, blinking atthe sudden dimness. Her eyes adjusted quickly, and she headed to along table where several men were hard at work.
She sighed. It looked like Owen wasn’tworking. That wasn’t good news for her as one of the cartographerson duty tended to take it personally when she made her ownnotations on the maps. She faced questions and recriminations, andshe was so tired. All she wanted was to drop it off so she couldhead back to her tent for a couple hours of shuteye beforedinner.
“Every moment you stand there is a momentwasted.” Vincent looked up and gave her a sharp-toothed smile.
Shea fought the urge to drag her feet as sheapproached the desk and handed him her rolled up map, complete withchanges and corrections. She knew from experience that he’d justsnatch the map from any of his underlings. Might as well give itdirectly to him if it was going to end up with him anyway.
“What have you changed this time?” hetaunted, unrolling it before setting it in front of him. “I see youcrossed off an entire set of ridges. And a river. Silly us to haveput those in there.”
“I’m just doing as I was told. Updating themap according to what we encounter in the field.”
“I see. I see.” He nodded and looked back atthe map. “It just amazes me that no other scout seems to make theamount of corrections you do.”
He knew as well as she that most of the otherscouts didn’t know how to make those changes. When she didn’tanswer, he rolled up the parchment and tossed it to another man whocaught it before rolling his eyes at Vincent’s back. Seemed Sheawasn’t the only one who thought the man was a pompous sack ofwind.
“Here.” Vincent held out a rolled up piece ofparchment tied with a red ribbon.
Shea unrolled it, her eyebrows lowering inquestion. It was a map. “What’s this?”
He gave her an ‘are you stupid’ look. “It’s amap.”
“I know that. Why? We just got back.”
“Well, I guess you’re being sent back out.”He made little shooing motions. “Run along, now. We’ve got work todo.”
Shea lingered, her gaze drawn to thepartition behind Vincent. From what she’d been able to piecetogether from overheard conversations and what she’d witnessed inall her visits to the cartographers, she guessed that the back roomheld the majority of the Trateri’s maps. It might even hold themaps she’d left behind all those months ago. Unfortunately, theroom was constantly occupied and she hadn’t been able to think of areason to go back there and snoop around.
Vincent cleared his throat, drawing herattention and then gesturing outside.
She rolled the map back up and turned on herheel, pushing out of the tent. Sometimes she just wanted tostrangle the man.
Outside, she blinked and shaded her eyes asthey adjusted back to the bright light. It looked like Eamon wasstill talking to the task commander about whatever this nextmission was.
Wanting to speak to him before she procuredsupplies, Shea stepped to the side and unrolled the map, figuringshe’d familiarize herself with their route in case they really didhave to head right out.
She’d seen this map before or one very likeit. The information in it was wrong though. A lot was missing ormismarked.
Damn, she’d have to talk to Vincent again toget it fixed. Just what she needed, another encounter with thefinicky map maker.
As she rolled it up, Vincent strode past her,moving at a fast clip. Not wanting to have to come back, Sheadarted after him.
Some instinct warned her against calling outso instead she trailed behind, wrestling with the need to addressthe error filled map but also knowing something was off.
Why would he leave his post in the middle ofa shift? During the busiest part of the shift? Everything she knewabout the Trateri indicated this was against character. There was arule about it or something. One of those she was supposed to knowbut could never seem to remember. Eamon waxed on about them all thetime.
When he abruptly turned a corner to disappearbetween two tents, Shea darted after him, stopping at the lastminute. Hearing voices, she flattened her back against thetent.
“Is it done?” a woman asked.
“Yes. I’ve distributed the maps you gave meto the troops.”
“The correct ones?” another man asked. Hisvoice was familiar, though muffled, as if she had heard it before.And recently.
“Misplaced, as you ordered.”
“Are you sure that he got the fake ones? Weneed the trap to work. He’s escaped too many time in the past,” thewoman said.
