“I guess.”
“That’s pretty impressive,” Darius told her.“There’s talk that that board is to going to be implemented by someof the other clans as well.”
Why was he telling her this?
“It’s something that could save lives,” Cadensaid softly, his eyes steady on her face.
Shea’s gaze shot to him while her wriststwisted against her bindings uneasily.
“Talked to your scout master and fellowscouts,” Darius inserted out of the blue, bringing Shea’s eyes backto him. “They said it was your idea to check the other trails.”
Again Shea shrugged.
“That was pretty smart. You probably savedthe Hawkvale and his guard’s life.”
He was leading up to something, Shearealized. That’s why he’d brought up where he knew her from andthen praised her initiative. He’d probably known exactly who shewas before he ever walked in here. Chances were he’d talked withanybody she’d ever interacted with. That’s why she was in here forso long. Long enough for the adrenaline to fade and for her to fallasleep.
But to what purpose? Maybe to catch her in alie or get her to boasting about all her achievements.
Impressive. He was good. He probably expectedto shake some information loose before she even realized what shehad revealed. It was clearly a tactic he’d used before. Caden too,if the way they played off one another was anything to judgeby.
“How’d you know which routes to look for himon?” Darius asked.
“Didn’t know. I got lucky.”
Darius arched an eyebrow and pulled a face asif to say he was impressed. “That’s some luck, you happening on theexact right place.”
Yeah, some luck. She was handcuffed to achair facing an interrogation. If this was good luck, she kind ofpreferred having no luck.
“No answer?” Darius asked, arching aneyebrow.
Caden was a dark shadow at his back, hishands hanging loose by his sides as he cataloged every fleetingexpression that crossed Shea’s face.
“You didn’t ask a question.”
Darius straightened and gave her a sidelongglance. “I don’t know quite what to make of you. From what I’vegathered from your fellow scouts, they don’t know either.”
Shea met his gaze with an impassive look ofher own.
He clasped his hands behind his back andsaid, “Shane, last name unknown. A Lowlander. Village also unknown.You’ve got skills that are highly unusual for a Lowlander and mostTrateri. Not only can you read a map, but you’re skilled increating them as well.” Seeing little reaction, he continued, “I’vetalked with our scout trainers.” That got some reaction, though aminor one. “They’ve never heard of any Lowlander named Shane. Infact, they said no Lowlander had ever completed an apprenticeship.They were quite insulted when we suggested one had. Seems theydon’t think much of your people.”
Well, crap.
Darius wasn’t done. “Now normally, at thispoint, it would be assumed you’re either a liar or a spy. You’renot entirely a liar because your companions tell me you’re the bestscout they’ve ever worked with. You are also in possession of anexceptional amount of knowledge about beasts. If you’re a spy,you’re perhaps the worst one in history. Not only have you beenturning in accurate maps for months now, but you led a scoutingparty to the Trateri leader and then put yourself in great dangerto save him.”
Shea resisted the impulse to shift or lookaway. She may not have been a spy, but she was definitely a liar.They had no idea how deep her lies ran.
“Yes, you’re a total mystery,” Darius said,running his eyes over her.
That had not been her intention. Her hope hadbeen to appear boring and ordinary so nobody would think to lookcloser.
“How did you know to look there?” Dariusasked, a trace of steel threading through his voice.
Shea bit the inside of her lip as thoughtsturned over in her head. As far as she could see, it hurt nothingto share about the conversation she’d overheard and the rest thathad led to finding Fallon.
Hiding the truth or downplaying what she knewmight even be seen as more suspicious.
“The maps they gave us were wrong.” Sheawatched them carefully for a reaction, but whatever they felt waskept locked down. Caden’s face stayed serious and stony, but Dariuswas just as good at keeping his emotions locked down behind hisblandly amused expression. “Routes were missing and others weremismarked as dangerous when they weren’t. I tried to talk to themaster cartographer on duty about it, but he left his post before Icould. When I followed him, I overheard him and two others, a manand a woman, discussing the fact he’d distributed false maps. Fromthere, it was just a bunch of little things that added upconsidering the situation.”
