Eva reluctantly saw his point. Rebelling would only result in a loss of dignity—most likely hers. She had no doubt Caden would drag her down this hill if she delayed much longer.
Eva stepped away from the mythological, her hand trailing along its shoulder before falling by her side.
She met Caden's gaze stubbornly. He held his ground for a long second as he weighed her, likely finding her wanting, Eva conceded with an internal snort.
He stepped aside, his gaze burning into the back of her head as she went down the hill first, Hardwick following.
"Make sure you post one of your people up here with him," Caden murmured to Fiona before Eva heard the distinctive sliding of rock and dirt that meant he'd started down the hill after them.
At the bottom, a group of ten waited. They were Anateri, all of them, except the two in the middle.
Fallon Hawkvale and Shea Halloran. Warlord and Battle Queen of the Trateri. The two people who had already reshaped the Broken Lands, though for good or bad, it was too early to say.
Eva quelled the nerves tangling up her insides. They were people. Powerful, dangerous people, but not monsters. At least not that she'd seen.
She'd met Shea twice. The first time, she’d been unaware of how important the woman was. It wouldn't have mattered even if she'd known. Eva had been desperate to find help before her herd was harmed. She had pushed and pushed, demanding someone listen. Shea had been the one who answered, but it could have easily gone a different way—with Eva's head separated from her shoulders for her presumption.
She hadn't cared about the risks. It was her job to speak for those who couldn't speak for themselves and she took that duty seriously.
Both Shea and Fallon were seated on horses as they watched Eva approach. Fallon's gaze was somber and watchful. He was every bit as fearsome as the stories had claimed. The force of his personality was a punch in the gut. This was a man who reshaped the world to fit his ideals rather than compromise them to fit reality.
The woman at his side was no less of a force of nature, though she was usually a bit more subtle about it.
As his guards spread out to form a perimeter, Fallon dismounted, walking over to his queen's side and holding his arms up. Shea gave him a look that would have sent Eva running.
"Do you want to chance falling on your face?" Fallon asked in an expectant drawl.
Shea's lip curled and she eyed him with irritation. For a second, Eva thought the Battle Queen would try to claw Fallon's face off.
Instead, Shea grimaced, allowing Fallon to assist her off her mount. Fallon's hands were incredibly gentle as he set Shea down on the ground with a care Eva would never have believed of a warrior like him, if she hadn't seen it.
Shea's hands went to massage her back as the Warlord settled one hand on her protruding belly and the other at her back. The look on his face was indescribably tender as he touched his Battle Queen's very pregnant stomach.
"Why have we interrupted our night to be called all the way out here?" Shea asked with an annoyed bite to her voice.
The Battle Queen's gaze landed on Eva as recognition dawned seconds later.
"I find myself curious as well," Fallon said. Unlike his queen, his expression wasn't friendly. He was a warrior and looked at Eva like one. Tall and imposing in a different way than Caden.
It wasn't hard to remember who he was and how he came to be there when he looked at her with that expression.
There was a horsey scream from above and then the rustle of wings as a dark shape threw itself over the side of the hill. The mythological glided, his wings wobbling slightly as he landed with a thump inches away from Eva.
"Would someone like to explain why a mythological was hiding up there?" Shea asked, unamused.
The Anateri closed in a circle around Shea as Fallon put himself between her and the mythological.
"It's why we called you here," Fiona volunteered. "Your standing orders are to bring anything dealing with the mythologicals directly to you, Warlord."
"I see." Fallon regarded the mythological intently.
The mythological sidled closer to Eva and unfolded one wing, holding it above her head as he glared challengingly at the rest of the humans.
Eva resisted the urge to bat that wing away, knowing it would only draw more attention to her peculiar situation.
"Would someone like to explain what is going on?" Fallon's gaze swung between Fiona and Hardwick.
"I would, Warlord, but it's not my story to tell," Hardwick said, nodding at Eva.
