"Commander, uh—Caden, how are you?" Jason stammered, his voice squeaking toward the end. He flushed as they glanced at him briefly.
Caden ignored him, directing his attention at Eva. "Stay beside me from now on. I don't want to have to chase you down again."
Eva forgot her preoccupation with Jason's unexpected hero worship of Caden as she was reminded of why she spent so much time avoiding the commander in the first place.
"Are you afraid I'm going to fly off?" she asked in an arch tone.
"That's exactly what I'm afraid of," he said in his completely rational voice. "You do have a history."
"Once," she hissed.
He acted like she flew off on the backs of Kyren on a regular basis.
"And that wasn't my fault."
He fixed her with a hard stare. "You're the one who climbed onto his back. Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you present when Shea left on her expedition to the Badlands?"
Jason's wide eyes swung her way, unable to hide how impressed he was.
She ignored him and the fact that Caden had just announced her part in that. She didn't need others knowing her role that night. It wasn't anything worth talking about.
Her glare was powerful enough to make a sane man flinch. Instead Caden’s lips twitched as if she amused him. The sight was wholly unexpected on the normally inexpressive Caden. Eva's stomach fluttered. She wasn't used to this playful side of him.
Into the silence, Jason threw out, "I'm an orphan too."
Eva sent him a disbelieving look. Why? Why had he felt the need to announce that now? Couldn't he read the atmosphere?
The brief glimpse of a personality beyond that of a killer was wiped clean, as Caden slanted a glance at Jason. "Ask me what you're planning to ask."
Jason took a deep breath. "How did you get them to respect you? I try but it doesn't work."
"Certainly not by making the lives of others difficult—or by posturing and belittling them so you feel better about yourself," Caden said meaningfully.
Jason blushed at the rebuke, his eyes sliding to Eva and away.
"Or by kissing ass and pretending to be something you’re not. I worked hard and I took my place in society. It wasn't given to me. I earned it and when people tried to keep what was mine, I tore them down and then stood on their bloody corpses," Caden shared. "No one owes you anything simply because you had a bad beginning. Be the best you can be and don't hurt those who are trying to help you."
Jason seemed to shrink in on himself, his face falling. Eva hovered on the verge of saying something, but didn’t know what. In the end, she said nothing.
Jason had begun to change, but it didn't make up for his general obnoxiousness at the beginning of his apprenticeship. Sometimes you had to hear hard truths so you could grow into a better, more beautiful version of yourself. It was a painful process, but a necessary one.
She hoped Jason could learn something from this experience and not let the truth crush him. Not everyone could.
The wheels turned behind Jason's expression as he seemed to come to a decision. He nodded at Caden before pulling up abruptly on his reins and dropping back.
"What was that about?" Eva asked.
"I told him something he needed to hear," Caden said.
Her expression remained suspicious.
He sighed. "Jason is an orphan. In our society, that can make it difficult to find your place."
"I thought the Trateri took care of all children," Eva said, not entirely understanding.
Shea had taken in Mist, and Fallon had launched an investigation to find those who'd mistreated her. Eva had seen others who were orphaned, who were well cared for too.
"Yes, children." They rode for several more minutes. "The thing about children is that they grow up. For those whose parents died in battle, they often find a place and a purpose. For those like Jason, like me, lostlings, true orphans who were abandoned to the plains, it's more complicated."
