Ollie relaxed with a sigh, shaking out his arm.
"Rough day?" Eva asked sympathetically.
He grunted, sounding surprisingly out of sorts for her normally chipper friend. "A bay stepped on my foot and then another of the brats bit me."
She raised an eyebrow. It seemed the warriors’ horses were in no better mood than their riders.
"How about you?" he asked, nodding toward her two pains in the ass.
"One of them dumped me on my ass and the other decided threats were the way to get me to do what he wanted," Eva said.
Ollie whistled. "Guess he doesn't know you too well."
"I wouldn't be too sure. I ended up doing exactly what he wanted," Eva said sourly.
"I'm sure it's only a matter of time before you turn the situation to your advantage." Ollie filled his mouth with another forkful of the meat. He chewed then swallowed. "That's my favorite trait of yours. You always find a way to make things work for you."
He had more confidence in her than she did.
Fiona flopped down across the fire from them, Ghost and Roscoe joining her.
"How was the hunt?" Eva asked.
"Successful," Fiona said, waving a hand at where a couple of the warriors were finishing up preparing the meat. It would feed the second wave. What was leftover would be tomorrow's meal.
"You should have come," Fiona teased.
Ollie snickered. "Eva's not really much of a hunter. Remember that time when you shot Landon in the ass with a slingshot?"
Fiona looked at Eva with interest, sensing a good story. Eva narrowed her eyes at her traitorous friend, saying through gritted teeth, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Tell us," Fiona urged, her eyes alight with excitement.
Ollie chuckled. "It was the first month after she joined us. Hardwick sent us and the rest of his apprentices at the time to scare off some predators who were harassing the herd."
"That was a long time ago," Eva protested.
"Not that long," he pointed out, before scooting forward on his rock. If there was anything the Trateri loved more than fighting, it was telling a good story around the campfire as night deepened around them. "You should have seen her. I don't think I've ever seen anyone worse with a slingshot."
Eva hung her head, knowing no amount of interference on her part would prevent the coming tale. She took up a stick, stabbing it morosely at the fire.
"She thought she finally had the hang of it but instead managed to nail Landon in the ass. Remembering the look on her face and the way he screamed before taking off across the pasture still makes Hardwick laugh. Landon thought a rat had bit him. It took all of us to catch him."
"It wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't startled the horses," Eva grumbled.
"Which made them stampede through camp. The commander of the watch thought we were being attacked and tried to launch a counterattack." Ollie could barely breathe as he related the end.
Eva stabbed harder at the fire, not finding it nearly as funny as he did. She’d found colored rocks in her bags for months. Still, to this day, that commander got a worried look in his eye anytime he saw her with a sling shot.
"That was you?" Ghost asked with an interested look. "We heard all about that even over in Sawgrass company. Everyone had a story to tell about that incident."
Eva dropped her head and groaned. That wasn't exactly how she wanted other people to remember her.
"I'm going to get you for this," she warned Ollie.
He shrugged. "I'm sure you can add it to your list of my indiscretions."
"What's your story?" Laurell said, appearing beside Fiona and handing her a bowl of food before taking a seat with her own bowl.
