Extraits

“So, you’re Shea’s cousin?” Buck asked as the fire crackled and popped. “You must have known her when she was young. Got any good stories?”

Shea lifted her head and glared at Buck. “What kind of question is that?”

He spread his hands and shrugged. “What? I’m just trying to make conversation. Get to know the other pathfinder in our midst. You’re always such a mystery. You can’t blame me for being curious.”

“I’d be interested to learn whether she’s always been this grumpy,” Eamon said.

“Grumpy? I’m not grumpy.”

“Oh yes, you are,” Trenton said. “You get this frown on your face, and then the next thing you know, you’re questioning how someone has survived in the world this long. To their face.”

“Wait, wait,” Buck said. “My favorite is when she asks if they were dropped on their head as a baby.”

“She still does that?” Reece asked.

“Yup, and this was when she was masquerading as a man and a scout. Asked the leader of a war party that, and then when he said no told him that was a pity, because maybe being dropped on his head would have knocked some sense into him.”

The rest of the group laughed.

“Did you really do that?” Fallon asked in a low voice next to her ear.

Shea’s shoulders tried to reach her ears as she looked away. That was answer enough. A warm chuckle feathered through her hair. Shea rolled her eyes. Yes, laugh it up. In her defense, that man had wanted to take the warband right through a nest of gravers when she had specifically told him it was a bad idea. It wasn’t her fault that he’d gotten so upset at her words that he’d tried to prove her wrong and nearly ended up dead in the process.

They laughed about it now, but at the time Eamon had been furious over her insubordination. The only thing that had saved her tail, was that the man had been so shaken he had forgotten all about her insults. The nice thing was that he hadn’t questioned any of her advice for the rest of their journey.

She frowned. She could kind of see why they thought she was grumpy.”

“The truth is a weapon best wielded carefully.”