“She’s steadier than she looks,” Fallon toldShea as she fastened her ruck sack to the back of her saddle.
Shea mounted and gathered the reins in herhands. “They always are.”
He gave her an appreciative grin. Lifting onehand, he pointed forward, and they were off. The party gettingunderway as Fallon led the way out of camp.
Shea gave her beast a kick to prod itforward. It stubbornly remained still. She prodded harder. Itwaited a beat longer as if to tell Shea they only moved when thebeast wanted.
Even when it began moving, the animal did sogrudgingly. They weren’t even out of camp before the lead horsesand their riders passed her.
Shea kept her face stubbornly pointedforward, not acknowledging the amused grins passing over her headas the riders passed on either side of her.
By the time the party crested its first hill,Shea and her stubborn mount were firmly at the back with only therear guard behind her, and that only because they absolutelyrefused to pass her.
Being utterly unable to inspire the beast togo any faster, Shea sat back to enjoy the ride. If she ignored thethree men behind her and tuned out the distant sounds of the groupin front of her, she could almost pretend she was on a solo journeyin the Highlands with the sun on her face, the wind in her hair andhundreds of miles of empty expanse between her and the nearestperson.
The path curved and the last two riders inthe party came briefly into view, ending Shea’s fantasy.
The pony kept a steady, short legged trot,completely different from the smooth gaits of the larger horses. Itwas by no means a comfortable ride, sending the teeth rattling inher head.
Shea caught up with the main group betweenone twist of the path and the next, surprised to find they hadtaken a break so soon in the trip.
A man intercepted her as she began todismount. “Better to just stay seated, girl. You took too longcatching up. We’re taking off directly.”
“I see.” Shea settled back into place,looking at the commotion around her. Sure enough, the men wereheading for their mounts.
Looked like she wasn’t getting any restduring this stop, or any stop, given how slow this infernalcreature was.
Sure enough, the pattern repeated with Sheaand her mount falling behind almost immediately after setting off.When she caught up with them a few hours later, she didn’t evenpause before continuing. She’d had a lot of time to think, ridingalong by herself and had worked out what was happening.
The time between breaks wasn’t long enoughfor an elite unit. No, they were waiting for her to fall behind sothey could stop and then set off as soon as she caught up, leavingher no time to rest or eat. They’d probably picked the pony justfor this reason. Their own personal brand of hazing.
Inwardly, Shea smiled. She wondered if thiswas Fallon’s plan or his men’s. In the end, it didn’t reallymatter. They miscalculated if they hoped to make her miserable. Sheenjoyed riding alone as it spared her from having to makeconversation with Fallon or his men, though she loathed being theone dragging everyone down.
“Where are you going?” a man questioned asshe rode past.
“Thought I’d get a head start. I’m sureyou’ll catch up.”
He snorted and let her pass without achallenge.
Shea felt a tingling between her shoulderblades but resisted the urge to turn, knowing who it was drilling ahole in her back.
A half hour hadn’t even passed before Fallonrode past with his men hard on his heels. They flanked her brieflybefore she was once again left alone with her thoughts.
That set the tone for the rest of the day,though Fallon no longer let her pass them, instead having themmounted and moving out as soon as she came into sight.
She was exhausted that evening when shefinally lifted her leg over the pommel and slid to the ground. Eventhat wasn’t to be the end, as she had to feed, water and thenhobble her horse with the others.
Finished settling the beast for the night,she gave its neck an affectionate pat. They’d come to anunderstanding of sorts during the course of the day. She wouldn’ttry to make it go any faster than a moderate trot, and the ponywouldn’t come to a complete stop and refuse to take another step.Not quite the relationship Shea usually had with her mounts, butshe’d take it.
Sleeping pallets littered the small campsite.As was usual for fast journeys such as theirs, the Trateri hadn’tset up a shelter that would need to be torn down in case of a quickexit.
Fallon’s bags sat abandoned near the hobbledhorses. Shea picked up on the unspoken order, shouldering them andheading for a spot near the middle of the proceedings, intending toset his pallet up where he’d be surrounded by his men.
“Fallon prefers to be on the edge,” a manspoke over her shoulder as she unrolled his blankets.
He pointed in the direction he meant. Sheagave him a quick nod and gathered both packs and the half unrolledblankets, before making her way to a little spot just far enoughfrom the fire that its light wouldn’t bother him as he slept. Shechose a site at the base of a tree with bark the color of ash andbranches that bent gracefully under the weight of its leaves. Afterplacing his pack at the head of the nest she created, she grabbedhers and stood.
Now, where should she set up hers?
