When she was finished, Charles tacked it ontothe board.
“What’s this?” a voice asked at theirbacks.
Shea went ramrod straight, cursing her luck.Charles and Clark spun and snapped to immediate attention, turningfrom the friendly men she knew into hard faced soldiers. Shea wasslower to turn.
Darius squinted past them at the board.Wanting a better look, he came closer, pausing by Shea as hestraightened one flyer to read it.
“It’s a record of beast encounters,” an oldman said, stepping into the shade. His back was slightly hunchedwith age, and his white hair was braided into a tail at the back ofhis neck. Despite the seeming frailty of his body, the strength ofhis personality along with a shrewd intelligence blazed from hiseyes. “From what my men have told me, when scouts return after anencounter with a beast they record its strengths and weaknesses soothers may know them.”
Darius had turned to listen, but now heturned back to the board with a renewed purpose. “That’sbrilliant.”
“It works too,” the old man said. “Haven’tyou wondered why there was drop in Horse Clan casualties over thepast few weeks?”
“This is why?”
The old man nodded. “It hasn’t spread to theother clans yet, but it seems to be working.”
Darius turned to the three of them. Unlikethe last time she had seen him, there was only a small spark of thecontinual good humor he seemed to carry. Today, he seemed tired andworn. Worry had carved deep grooves around his eyes and mouth,though he tried to insert a bit of his old self into his voice whenhe asked. “Whose idea was this?”
“It was his, sir.”
Shea wanted to punch Clark when he nodded ather. Suddenly, she found herself the focus of the two men. One ofwhom had met her before, as a woman, and the other of which seemedmuch sharper than she would have liked.
“Only the beginning, sir,” Shea said quicklydeepening her voice as much as she dared without drawing attentionto herself. She needed to get out from under their notice. “Therest of it was his.”
Clark puffed up and stood straighter, if thatwas possible, as Darius’s focus swung to him.
Shea stepped back, putting a little morespace between her and them. The old man’s eyes flicked to her, andshe froze as he studied her with a thoughtful expression. Shedropped her eyes quickly from his, staring at the ground beforepeeking back up. She sighed in relief to find he was no longerwatching her, giving his shrewd attention to the board behind herinstead.
Clark was explaining the concept behind theboard.
Both Clark and Charles seemed intent onimpressing Darius, taking turns in the explanation while Dariuslooked on thoughtfully.
Now would be the time to tell someone whatshe’d heard. Darius was pretty high up in the army, and she didn’thave to worry about involving him in something dangerous. Heprobably even knew the missing person.
Telling him would expose her to scrutinythough, which was dangerous given her secrets. Right now peoplethought she was a boy, but that was mostly because they were usedto thinking of her that way. Revealing a plot of this magnitudewould automatically guarantee Darius would take a closer look ather.
It might be selfish, but Shea didn’t want totake the chance. She’d keep her council for now and see if therewas a better time to advance what she’d learn. She just had to hopeher silence didn’t cost somebody their life.
“And this all sprang from your journal?”Darius asked her.
All eyes swung to her.
“Ah, yes.”
“That’s impressive.”
Her tongue felt thick as she said, “Thankyou.”
“Very impressive,” Darius said, idly lookingover the board one last time. He turned to leave. “I won’t keep youfrom your assignments. I pray you meet with success on yourjourney.”
Clark and Charles made the proper partingremarks, and Shea hurried to join in as Darius and his companiondeparted. They moved slowly, meandering down the road deep inconversation. Darius shortened his stride, keeping to his friend’space as he bent his head toward the man, listening intently.
“Can you believe Darius Lightheart, theWarlord’s right hand man, complemented our project? Even the headof Horse Clan knows about us.” Clark slapped Shea on the shoulder,almost bouncing on his toes from excitement. Even Charles lookedslightly amazed, his eyes wide and disbelieving as if this had beensome wild hallucination.
“Who knows what might happen after this?We’ve impressed a General. He said it was amazing! I need to tellmy team.” Clark started off before turning around to walk backwardsand giving them a “who could have believed it” expression.
For a moment, Shea forgot her concerns andsmiled at Clark’s antics. He looked his age as he buzzed from theexcitement of meeting one of his heroes. She was glad for him.
