Fallon sighed heavily. “You mean myhalf-brother.”
Shea’s head lifted in surprise. She’d methim. The half-brother had been Fallon’s polar opposite. Convincedof his own superiority but without Fallon’s charisma and force ofpresence to back it up.
“You know he’s been jealous of you foryears,” Caden said softly.
“Jealousy is a long leap to assassination,”Fallon said. “No, until we have concrete proof I will not accusehim. The information could have leaked another way.”
“Fallon-”
“Enough. No more on this subject,” Fallonsnapped. “We’ll learn one way or another in a short time.”
“Unless the mastermind slips back to the maincamp,” Shea said. When all three pairs of eyes came to rest on her,she shifted. Perhaps she should have kept her observation toherself. She shrugged, “It just seems he or she has been good atcovering their tracks up until now. It would be an unnecessary riskto stick around to make sure the deed is done when you’ve slippedfrom their trap so many times before.”
“That’s exactly why I think the involvedparty will be here,” Fallon told her. “They’re growing frustrated.They’ll want to make sure nothing goes wrong this time and to gloatat finally having my neck under their sword. You attribute a levelof intelligence to them they simply do not possess.”
Shea didn’t know about that. Their plansseemed pretty clever to her. It was pure dumb luck she interferedon two separate occasions.
“We’ll need to turn their trap against them,”Fallon said. “With the difficult and unfamiliar terrain, it wouldbe foolish to try to attack before first light.”
He was right. If he tried to have his menattack now, they were just as likely to fall off a cliff in thedark, or get thrown from a horse and break their neck, as carry outthe attack successfully. Not knowing the land greatly hinderedthem. Lucky for them, their opponent wasn’t any more familiar withthis territory.
Fallon studied the map for a long momentbefore finally saying, “We’ll need to spring the trap. I’ll lead mymen into it. Caden will take a group and attack the archers waitingabove on the cliff. If we take care of them, it will be easier tofight our way through the men in the valley.”
Easier, but not guaranteed. Fallon’s menwould be fighting on two fronts. Nobody had mentioned the numbersthey faced so Shea figured they didn’t have a good estimate. Thatnumber could be significantly greater than the small force Fallonhad brought.
Trenton sighed. “Looks like the boys are infor a time of it.”
Fallon clapped him on the back. “Wouldn’t bethe first time, nor I suspect, the last. We’ll leave before dawn.If we can get there before they’re expecting us, we can throw offtheir timing.”
To Shea, he said, “You’ll be going with thegroup heading up the cliffs. The pony shouldn’t slow you down asmuch there. She’s better with the hills and rocky terrain than ourplains horses.”
“I’ll believe that when I see it,” Sheasaid.
The rest of the night passed both too slowlyand too fast. Sleep was impossible after the strategy session.Fallon spent the few hours before their departure with his men finetuning their plans and talking with them.
He rotated from group to group, slappingbacks and just being there for them. Chances were good that somemight not come out of tomorrow alive, and he let them know theywere appreciated, that they meant something.
They loved him for it. They loved him.
As they got into position the sun wasbeginning to rise above the twin mountain peaks in the east.Brilliant oranges, magentas and reds billowed across the horizon.It was the most brilliant sunrise Shea had ever seen. She ferventlyhoped it wasn’t her last.
“Lass, the Warlord gave orders for you tostay out of sight when we attack,” Caden said softly next toher.
Shea considered his words and found she hadno problem with that. Unlike the rest of his men, she had littletraining when it came to weapons and what she did know was defensebased. Mostly how to defend long enough to run away. Up until shehad fallen in with the Trateri, she’d only drawn a blade against abeast.
Furthermore, she had no desire to use aweapon against another human being. She would if it was her life ortheirs, but preferred it didn’t come to that.
“I understand,” she whispered back.
“That means you are not to leave this hidingspot,” he clarified.
“That’s fine.”
“No running out into the middle of battle,distracting my men.”
“Heard you the first time.”
“It would be dangerous.”
