He finished his speech by taking a huge bitout of a biscuit and then gulping down some of his drink.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Clark piped up again. “Shane, is it trueyou’re the one who found the Hawkvale? That’s all anybody has beentalking about since we rode into camp.”
Damn. She was hoping he hadn’t known. Thismeant everybody here knew as well.
“I heard you and your men refused to giveHawkvale to his personal guard and got punished for it,” thebrown-eyed man said eagerly.
Shea gritted her teeth. Did everything fromlast night make the rounds? These men gossiped worse than the oldbiddies in Birdon Leaf.
All eyes were on Shea. Even those outside thecircle of men she was talking to. Those at neighboring fires hadgiven up any pretense of ignoring them and had turned tolisten.
Left with no choice, Shea confirmed, “My teamand I did find Hawkvale.”
Clark let out a whoop, and Shea cringed ashis brown-eyed friend echoed it. The bigger man chewed thoughtfullyon his biscuit while examining her closely. A low rumble came fromthe neighboring campsites, and three men stood and ambled closer tostand with arms folded over huge chests behind the three mensitting before Shea.
She shifted uneasily. So much for not drawingattention to herself.
“I told you,” Clark crowed. “I told you Iknew him. I can’t believe this. I’m friends with the man who savedHawkvale. You’re going to be a legend, Shane. After this, you’llprobably be promoted, and I’ll get to say I knew you when you werejust a Daisy.”
Shea smiled tightly in response to the nodsof appreciation and crossed her arms over her stomach.
“Clark, could I speak to you alone for asecond?” Shea grabbed Clark’s arm and hauled him away before hecould answer.
“Shane, what’s the rush?” Clark asked, nearlystumbling as she swept around a corner.
Her eyes darted around, making sure they wereas alone as they could get in this tent city. No one seemed to bepaying undue attention to them, but there was an itching sensationdrilling into the back of her head as if they were being watched.Another subtle scan of the area didn’t reveal what set off herinstincts, but she’d learned over the years to pay attention tothem. They’d saved her life more than once.
There were men dressed in the distinctivegreen of a scout and the more common browns and tans of a frontliner. None paid undue attention to Shea or her companion andcontinued on their way.
She took a deep breath, forcing a composureshe didn’t feel.
“When’s your next mission?” she asked.
She felt a twinge of guilt at the innocentquestions in his eyes.
“Not ‘til tomorrow morning. They wanted us torest up a little. Why?”
How much should she tell him? Not the truth,but maybe a version of it.
She allowed some of the frustration she wasfeeling to register on her face and dragged a hand through hershort hair. “This stuff with the Hawkvale is just making me alittle antsy. All the attention is kind of getting to me. Not tomention our squad has been taken off the register for at least aweek.” She gave him a sheepish smile. “I’ve never been in camp thatlong. I guess I was just hoping that I could tag along the nexttime you or one of the others head out.”
“I can ask Perry if you could come with us,”Clark offered.
As a scout, he understood what she wastalking about. Sometimes spending all your time with a small groupof men out in the great wide expanse made it difficult to come backto the chaos of camp life. Being forced into a rest could wind ascout up quicker than any beast encounter.
She considered his offer. Tomorrow would betoo late. She needed to leave today. Preferably ten minutes fromnow.
“Still, it’d be a shame missing all thisrecognition,” Clark continued. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Hawkvaledoesn’t throw you some kind of feast.”
She shrugged off-handedly. “I’ve never reallybeen a fan of attention. Besides, I doubt they’ll invite me to anyfeast. I’m not Trateri.”
“I don’t think it’ll matter if you’reTrateri. You might even get adopted into a clan because of this.”Clark’s eyes lit in excitement. “That’d be something. If you becamea true Trateri. You’d be one of us.”
“You wouldn’t happen to know of anybody who’sleaving sooner? For instance, this morning?”
Clark sighed, disappointment clear in hiseyes. “I think Remy’s group is leaving this morning. I’ll ask ifthey can use another scout.”
