Eamon dragged Shea to a horse and then leftwithout another word. Guess that meant this was her horse.
She patted its nose and smiled when itwhickered back at her in greeting.
This was almost too easy.
Minutes later they were riding into the inkydarkness. Shea spared a single glance behind before following. Sheonly hoped Witt and Dane met with the same luck.
Chapter Seven
The men stood as Fallon strode into the tent.He lifted a hand in acknowledgement.
“She’s through there.” Darius nodded at thepartition.
Fallon moved past the others, tugging asidethe piece of fabric and ducking through to the other side. It wasempty.
He turned in a full circle to make sure. Nosign of the woman.
He raised his voice and asked, “Is this ajoke?”
Conversation stopped. There was an abruptsilence before Darius ducked into the chamber.
“Damon,” Darius barked.
Fallon and Darius stared at the post. The nowempty post that Darius used to detain important prisoners, hadneither manacles nor girl attached to it
Damon shouldered in behind them and walkedover to the pillar.
“Where is she?” Darius asked him.
He seemed just as confused as them. “Thisshould be impossible. I put her in the irons.”
Darius swore. “If you put them on her, howdid she escape?”
“I don’t know.”
Ignoring the escalating argument behind him,Fallon examined the post closely. There were scratches on the woodas if something heavy had scraped against it. These marks scarredthe post all the way to the top. If he had to guess, she used thechain to climb the pole and then worked it over the top, leavingher free to escape.
Damon crouched by a slit in the siding andstuck his head out. “However she got loose, she went this way.”
“Follow her,” Darius snapped. “Take men withyou.”
Damon nodded, calling for his men beforefollowing the woman’s path.
“Fallon,” Darius started, an explanationalready on his tongue.
Fallon raised a hand, still looking at thetop of the post. He shook his head. Darius wasn’t to blame for thisoversight. This post had been used to chain much stronger men thanthe girl.
She possessed an unusual amount of cunning tohave escaped one of his best generals. Very tricky. His shouldersshook. Before long his laughter echoed in the room.
Darius watched cautiously, not used to seeingamusement on the normally stony face. Darius followed Fallon’sgaze. His lips twitched as he saw the humor of the situation.
“Once the troops learn of this, they’re goingto start calling her the phantom,” Darius observed.
Fallon grunted in agreement.
“I wonder how she plans on getting rid of thechains,” Darius mused. “With the level of effort she puts intoescaping, you’d think we planned to torture her or something.”
“At least it’s not up a cliff this time,”Fallon said.
