"You have quite an effect on him," Fiona said, coming up and slapping Eva on the back. Eva fought not to wince; the warrior woman's blow felt like getting hit with a battering ram. "I don't think I've ever seen him retreat so quickly."
Eva rubbed the offended shoulder. "I'm not quite sure what you mean."
Fiona looked Eva over, her gaze considering. "No, I imagine you don't. I have faith you will, soon."
Eva didn't know what that meant and after the long journey she wasn't into guessing games.
"Don't you have somewhere to be?" she finally asked the Anateri who still hadn't moved from her position.
"Don't mind her, she's doing what she's told," Fiona said.
"And that is?"
"Protecting you."
Eva snorted disbelievingly at Fiona as the warrior stepped past her and indicated for Eva to follow.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Eva asked, shifting her bags again. They hadn’t seemed heavy when she’d lifted them to the saddle earlier, but now they felt like they increased in weight with each step.
"What do you think it means? I know our people are different but there's really only one way to take that."
"I mean, why?" Eva said, waving the insult away.
Fiona raised an eyebrow at her as if asking if she was stupid, as well as obtuse. "Your Sebastian is one of the few Kyren we’ve gotten to interact with. He’s the first to indicate a willingness to ally with the Hawkvale, and he's made it clear you're an important reason for that. Like it or not, you've become the most important person except for Shea and Fallon to the Trateri. Your success isn’t possible if you die. Caden and his people are here to make sure that doesn't happen."
They approached the peak of a hill, and Fiona started down a slightly worn path. She was halfway down when she realized Eva still stood at the top. She raised an eyebrow. "Are you coming?"
Eva hesitated. It seemed safer up here. It'd definitely be quieter. She wasn't sure how much more of the other woman's truths she wanted to listen to.
Fiona tilted her head at the path. "The pathfinder said there’s a natural hot spring down there. I'm told it is a decadent luxury few have the opportunity to experience. I thought you could use some refreshing."
"I should stay and help set up camp."
"Leave it to the rest. They've got it well-handled." Fiona pointed to a spot near the side of camp. “Set your bags there. No one is going to take anything.”
Still, Eva hesitated, looking back at where Ollie and Jason checked over the horses. They did have things well in hand. What was the harm of visiting the hot spring for a quick dip?
Reluctantly Eva followed Fiona’s advice and set her bags down before squatting to rummage through them for her bathing supplies. At the sight of a perfectly formed green apple, she paused. That hadn’t been in her bag earlier. Had it been one of the things Shea had left her?
She thought she’d seen everything Shea had slipped into the pack, but she must not have.
Eva picked the apple up, admiring it for a moment. The fruit was a rare treat and was one of her favorites. How kind of the Battle Queen—if that was who had left it—to include it in her belongings. Eva took a bite before grabbing the items she needed.
The narrow dirt path Fiona led her down was more treacherous than it seemed. Twice, Eva’s feet almost slid out from under her but each time she caught herself just in time.
It belatedly occurred to her that following the Trateri woman, a stranger until a few days ago, without telling anyone where she was going might not have been in Eva’s best interests.
Stupid Eva. Didn't she know better than most how people could turn on one another? What did she know about Fiona? Really?
She'd seemed nice, even kind when she'd questioned Eva over the deaths of those men, but the cruelest of beings often hid behind the most innocent of facades.
"There you are. I've been waiting forever," a throaty voice said from the ground.
A woman uncurled from where she'd been sitting partially concealed by some surrounding rocks and shrubs, startling Eva.
The stranger was Trateri, her face heart-shaped and her eyes a dark brown. She was short with a softer form than Fiona's, even as her clothes declared her a warrior.
The woman paused when she caught sight of Eva and sent the other Trateri a questioning look.
