The beads on the many necklaces he wore clattered as he walked toward her, a quiet rattle announcing his presence, similar to a rattler lizard the Trateri told her about that resided in their homeland.
He felt dangerous. Unknowable. Alien.
The moment was broken as Ollie and Jason rode up.
Ollie's expression shuttered at the sight of the mythological, his mouth set as he scowled. He swung his leg over the back of his horse, dismounting while still in mid-gallop. It was a dangerous maneuver. If he faltered or lost his balance, he could easily end up under the horse's hooves, or tripping and falling flat on his face.
He made it look easy, running with the momentum and reaching Eva's side in the next second.
"Look, the mice rush to each other's side. How very fortuitous for the hawk," the mythological drawled. His teasing wasn’t gentle or kind, instead meant to flay the skin from bone. To ridicule and mock.
Eva's chin went up. The worst thing she could do would be to let him think she was afraid. Bullies preferred prey that feared them. The stubbornness that had enabled her to survive on her own, away from her village, steeled her spine and muffled the fear that crouched deep in her soul.
"Even mice can be dangerous in great enough numbers," she challenged.
The new mythological peered at her, his gaze considering, as if she'd done something wholly unexpected. "How very true, little mouse."
Eva fought not to back down, her earlier bravado wavering. These were allies of the Trateri. Threatening him was perhaps unwise and foolhardy.
"Where did you get so rare a pet as a Kyren?" he asked with a twist of his lips. It might have been intended as a friendly expression, but instead it managed to seem vaguely threatening.
"He's not a pet," Eva said, a part of her rejecting his words before she could think better of it.
"Oh?" the new mythological drawled. "And yet I see the marks of a collar around his neck."
"That wasn't us," Eva insisted stubbornly.
A nose appeared over her shoulder as the Kyren peered at the newcomer with a chastising look.
The wingless mythological's expression lightened the barest bit, enough for Eva to think the smile was real this time. "Very well, I'll stop torturing the little mouse."
The Kyren whinnied before pulling back and wheeling in time to prevent Caia from stealing his blanket.
"It appears the other mouse has brought a feast for our four-legged friend," the Tenrin observed.
Eva twisted as Jason stopped his horse next to them with a subtle shift in his seat. To the horse who read his rider’s intentions by the seat bones, it would seem as Jason had sat down a little harder. It was a show of expertise from a man Eva would have liked nothing more than to dismiss as incompetent.
Jason remained on his horse as suspicion and wariness of the new arrivals crossed his face. To Eva, he said, "Hardwick told me to bring meat to the winged horse this morning."
The wingless Tenrin waited, his hands behind his back. "Interesting. Which of you will brave my friend's teeth, I wonder?"
He was doing this on purpose, Eva realized. Making them uncomfortable and then taunting them when he was successful.
Deciding he'd had enough of her attention, Eva stepped close to Jason's horse, a red roan who regarded all of them alertly.
She held her hands up. "I'll take it."
"You sure?" Jason asked. "Those teeth look very sharp. I can do it if you're afraid."
Eva reached up and jerked free the package he held. "I'm not afraid. The Warlord gave me this task. I will do it."
Jason shrugged to show her decision didn't really affect him in one way or another. A lie, if the jealousy gleaming in his eyes was anything to judge by.
"I see you're not a real fast learner," Ollie observed as Eva moved away.
A demanding screech came from her charge as he cantered toward her. He nodded his head several times, repeating the sound.
"What is that noise?" Jason grimaced
