It'd likely be easier on everyone.
Caden nodded. "We could, but that would create its own problems. We let them go home and the fighting might never stop. Or it will lead to more bloodshed than even we care to be responsible for. They're essentially hostages for their people's good behavior."
"Except there is no way to enforce that behavior because you don't know which throwaway came from which village.” Eva paused as her forehead wrinkled. "Do you?"
"I thought because you have spent so much time with us you would know better by now. We're not the barbarians the Lowlanders have cast us as. Every throwaway can be traced back to their village of origin. If necessary, we will enact the vengeance we promised if they stray too far over the line."
Caden's rebuke stung. She knew they weren't barbarians. Their society was too complex to make that claim. Nomads they might be, but they had their own record-keeping methods. Their own technology. How else would they have conquered such a large swath of the Broken Lands? Something never successfully achieved before now. Not since the cataclysm that had rent their world apart.
"We have never had a reason to act on that threat," Caden said. "Not yet anyway."
Her gaze sharpened. "You expect trouble?"
"There is always trouble—eventually. People become complacent. They convince themselves we can’t possibly mean what we say and that the consequences will pass them by." Caden’s gaze was distant. "That's when it will happen. Someone will step too far out of line. Test a boundary they shouldn't have. We'll be ready, even if those we rule think we aren't."
"So that's to be their lot in life? Forever under the Trateri's boot?" It seemed like a grim fate to Eva, and would almost definitely lead to the exact scenario Caden outlined.
"They're given the same opportunities to prove themselves as all Trateri are." Caden cast a glance up at Eva. "Or do you think you're mistreated, herd mistress?"
Eva stared back at him, turning over his words. She couldn't argue with him. It was true. While there were only a few, there were several former throwaways who'd managed to achieve positions of power within the Trateri ranks. It was enough to prove the concept.
Seeing he'd made his point, Caden pushed off the side of the wagon, hitting it with his closed fist. "Stay close to the Kyren tonight."
"Why?"
He arched an eyebrow, his expression slightly cruel. "Because I said so. That should be enough."
"You know someone is going to have a witty response for that someday," Eva called after him.
"Glad to see you've finally gotten over your fear of me," he returned.
She glared at his back, shouting, "I wasn't afraid." Seeing others in the company look over at her, Eva muttered to herself, "I was cautious. There's a difference."
There was the faintest echo of laughter in her mind as Sebastian moved out from under her, toppling Eva ungracefully to the floor.
She popped up, her braid sliding forward over her shoulder. "Rude."
Sebastian's tale flicked, hitting her in the face. She sputtered, pushing it away as that same laughter echoed in her mind. She froze, staring at him.
Was that laughter his?
Forgetting the prank he'd just played on her, Eva pushed herself to her feet as she pondered the impossibility of what she was considering. Or maybe it wasn't so impossible.
After all, Ajari seemed to be able to communicate with Sebastian. Perhaps it was through his thoughts. How else had he known Sebastian had chosen her as the intermediary?
She might have dismissed the thought except for all the other strange things that seemed to happen in this land.
When the impossible became your daily reality, nothing seemed out of reach.
"Can you do that again?" Eva asked Sebastian. Excitement buzzed in her veins. To be able to hear him, to speak with him and others like him, she could think of no other piece of magic she'd rather have.
One ear turned toward her as he looked over his shoulder at her. His expression was innocent. Or as innocent as a creature with teeth meant to rip and rend could be.
No laughter was forthcoming. There was no voice to be heard. Just the silence of her own mind.
"Never mind," she said, feeling the slightest sting of disappointment. "My head was in the clouds."
He flicked his ear at her again and then stomped a foot and lifted his lips to expose his teeth. It was their signal for hunger.
