The one on the left drew his sword and swungdown on her neck, cutting Indra off in mid sob. The air came alivewith the sharp zing of metal clearing scabbard and then the abortedquick cries of men before they died.
It was over almost before it had begun. Atthe end, every conspirator lay dead in a pool of their ownblood.
“You ride with me,” Fallon ordered, grabbinghold of her good arm and hustling her towards the horses. “Caden,prepare the men to ride. We need to get back to Darius. Shea, howaccurate are those maps?”
“They’re dead.”
“Yes.”
“You killed them.”
“Yes.”
“You killed them all.”
“Yes.”
“Why?” Shea couldn’t help the questionspilling from her mouth.
She understood death and violence. Shecouldn’t get away from it as a pathfinder. Both existed out in theremote wilds. It was a dangerous world, one where death shadowedyour footsteps, waiting for you to make that one mistake that woulddestroy everything.
This, she did not understand. Not thiswholesale slaughter.
“They betrayed me. There was no way they wereleaving this place alive.”
That was not an answer.
“I don’t-“
“Shea.” He hauled her around to face him. “Weare not Lowlanders. We rarely exile our people. We have no jails.This is the only way to do things. I could not leave them alive totry again, nor could I let them go to unite with my other enemies.It was quick and merciful. Previous warlords have been known todrag it on for days. I would have preferred not to have killed allthese men or the ones I’m preparing to end, but that’s the world welive in. I will do anything to safeguard you and the future I’mbuilding, even stain my hands with blood. Do you understand?”
Shea searched his eyes, struck by the feelingthat if she gave the wrong answer this would be the end ofthem.
“No,” she said. Steeling herself against thedisappointment in his eyes, she continued, “I will never understandbloodshed of this scale. I abhor it with every fiber of my being.”He started to turn from her, and she grabbed the front of hisshirt. “No, I don’t understand, but I don’t have to. I will notagree with it; I can’t. It goes against the very bedrock of mybeing, but I will trust you. And I will not judge you. Though, Ihad questions she could have answered.”
Relief, an expression she never thought topair with him, dawned behind his whiskey colored eyes, and hetouched her hands lightly.
“As to the maps, it depends on which part ofthe cipher they broke. There are several. Also, if the mist stillcovers the cliffs, those maps will be useless. They’ll never beable to get through it. Probably. It’d be best if we could stopthem from attempting it, though.”
“It’s agreed then,” he said.
Shea let go, smoothing the fabric back intoplace as she did. “Well. That part is. The rest is still up in theair.”
“It’s agreed,” he reiterated.
To his back, she muttered, “I’ll be the judgeof that.”
Chapter Twenty Four
The trip back to the encampment went muchfaster with Shea riding passenger with Fallon. The group took onlyone short break to rest and water the horses, then they were offagain, riding as fast as the uneven terrain would allow.
It came as no surprise when they rode intocamp hours earlier than the trip out had taken. There was no ponyto slow them down, nor did they have to wait for the enemy to takethe bait.
The camp was much the same as they left it,though there were signs here and there of the impending movement.Many of the sleeping tents had been disbanded and not one fire waslit.
Their pace didn’t pause as they rode throughthe tent city. People dove out of their way to avoid beingtrampled. Fallon and his men had a single-minded purpose, and theywere going to let nothing or no one stand in their way.
The man was damn near unstoppable once he puthis mind to a task.
