It didn’t take long for her to find what shewas looking for, a building with a rowan branch pinned to the doorand two revenant skulls with blue flowers threaded through the eyesmounted on pikes on either side.
“If only that were the case,” Shea saidsoftly.
“Are those skulls? Revenant skulls? Shane?Where are you going?”
Shea spun and took off, nearly running, asshe headed back to the villagers. Eamon, with one last look at theskulls, trailed behind her.
“Shane, stop. Stop, right now,” Eamon orderedwhen he saw where she was heading.
Shea didn’t listen, intent on her prey. Shedidn’t know who it was yet, but she’d know him when she sawhim.
Pushing past the Trateri still mounted, shepaused to survey the crowd, barely noticing as Eamon stopped besideher.
“Shane, you cannot do this. Whatever this is.Tell me what’s going on.”
“In a minute,” she said in a distracted toneof voice.
“What’s going on?” a Trateri asked frombehind them.
Shea tuned them out, not caring what wassaid. She’d found her target. As she’d thought, she’d known him ata glance. He stood out from the rest of the villagers. They weresimple folk. Not him though. His hair was bedraggled and untamed,but the clothes he wore were high quality, if dirty. Most damningof all, he wore a necklace made of the same blue flower as wasthreaded through the eye sockets of the skulls. It was a prettyflower by itself and harmless if not for what it symbolized.
In nature, the flower’s scent repelled mostpredators as it deadened the sense of smell and lured its victim bycausing hallucinations. So naturally its likeness was adopted by areligious sect who vilified and deified beasts, making them intoboth monsters that needed to be feared and gods that could beappeased through worship and sacrifice.
Their presence was more common in theLowlands than the Highlands. Shea’s guild would not deal with anyvillage that hosted one of the sect’s priests. They fed onsuperstition and fear, building it until it reached hystericalextremes and turning once decent people into a terror maddened andcrazed imitation of themselves.
“Where are they?” Shea snapped as she strodeto the priest.
A village woman stepped in front of Shea,holding her hands up in supplication. Thrusting the woman away fromher, Shea continued, ignoring the building undercurrent of fear andhostility, both from the villagers and the Trateri behind her.
“Where. Are. They?”
The priest, to give him credit, did notretreat in the face of Shea’s onslaught. He held firm, looking ather from behind eyes such a dark brown they almost appeared black.Or perhaps that was how Shea saw them given what she knew of hispractices.
Reaching him, she grabbed his robes andjerked him down towards her. His struggle was laughably weak,barely even phasing her. Extreme fasts and safe living had made himweak while she pushed her body to the limits on a daily basis.
Later she would be stunned by her actions.Knowing that she could have easily been injured or killed by thewary villagers surrounding her or the Trateri who had not a cluewhat was happening, besides the fact that their scout had suddenlyturned crazy. Right now, none of that mattered. Anger filled hernear to bursting and cleared sane thoughts from her mind. Rightnow, all that mattered was finding out how far these people hadgone in the pursuit of safety.
The priest maintained his silence, giving hernothing but a blank stare. That stare said he wouldn’t answer tothe likes of her. No matter how she pushed or prodded, he wasn’tgiving the information up.
Fanatics. God, she absolutely loathedthem.
“Not gonna answer, huh?” She bared her teethat him, much like the revenants had days before. One by one herfingers loosened their grip, letting go and then smoothing therobes down on his chest. “That’s alright.”
She turned and walked away, only now noticingFallon watching her from his upright position on his mount. All ofthe Trateri watched her, some with suspicion, others withcuriosity.
“What’s going on here?” Fallon asked. Hisexpression made it clear if she didn’t have a damn good reason forher little outburst she would be sharing the villager’spunishment.
“My lord, if I may?” Eamon waited forpermission to continue. Fallon tilted his chin down. “The scoutdiscovered the village is missing somewhere near a third to half ofits population. I believe he was trying to determine where theywent.”
“You believe?” Fallon’s face made it clear hedidn’t care for this turn of phrase.
“He didn’t exactly share his plans.”
Fallon’s attention shifted to Shea. “Is thistrue, Scout? You were trying to determine where they’ve hidden therest.”
“Sort of.”
Eamon cleared his throat loudly.
