The Wind's Call

by T. A. White

  Eva liked that about them, even if it was a quality she'd prefer to see play out from a distance.

  Since there was time to spare, Eva headed for the wagon, stopping only when she saw one of the Lowlanders crouched next to the water.

  "I'd get away from there if I were you," Eva said, moving towards the man.

  He ignored her, pulling free his socks and dipping his feet in the water before cupping his hands and bringing up some of the liquid to dribble down his neck.

  Eva increased her pace, irritation tempting her to leave him behind. She resisted. If something happened, she'd feel guilty later that she hadn't done all she could.

  "The pathfinder said to stay out of the water."

  He took a step toward her, the shallows barely lapping at midcalf. "I don't need you giving me trouble. My feet ache from all this walking and could do with a quick soak before our taskmasters force me back to work."

  She opened her mouth to argue and point out the dangers when he jerked, losing his balance and falling into the water. A sharp cry escaped him. There was a flash of scales, then kelp or something that looked oddly like hair swirling just feet from where he'd just been standing. He thrashed toward the bank, crouching there.

  The skin above his ankle was red, blood dotting it like something had wrapped around it and tried to drag him under.

  "What was that?" he hissed.

  Eve came to a stop beside him, searching the water for another glimpse of whatever the creature was. “I suspect that’s the reason the pathfinder told us to stay out."

  The Lowlander fixed her with a wild stare as she sauntered back to the wagon. She had a feeling he'd listen now.

  Eva found the Kyren with his head drooping and his wings tucked close into his body. His feathers glistened with rain drops as if he'd caught stars on them and brought them down to the world for mortals to admire.

  Eva climbed into the wagon with him, skirting his larger form to greet him in the method he'd taught her before petting his nose in the way she knew he liked.

  "There's a river blocking our path. Well, Laurell thinks it’s more of a lake than a river. Whatever it is, has Reece worried," Eva said, sharing the news from outside the wagon, as had become her habit over the last few days.

  The two had formed a tentative truce. Eva still wasn't sure why he'd chosen her or why he'd suddenly become difficult, but they had figured out a way to work together. It wasn't the relationship she had with Caia, and that was okay. Caia was a special entity for Eva.

  "We should not have come here," Ajari said from above.

  Eva didn't even start at the unexpected company. By now, she’d grown used to the way the mythological came and went. It no longer surprised her when she found him watching her from somewhere high.

  "You're not the only one who thinks so," Eva said, not pausing in her soothing strokes to Sebastian's neck. She found an itchy spot beneath his jaw and spent a few seconds scratching it as his eyes rolled in pleasure. She dropped a kiss on his nose before stepping back and giving Ajari her full attention.

  Sebastian might make her pay for that piece of affection later, but she hadn’t been able to resist.

  "This place stinks of rot and decay." Ajari's eyes were distant as if he was remembering something unpleasant. "I can smell it in the air. Can't you?"

  Finally, he looked down at Eva. She couldn't help but feel a pulse of fear at the otherworldliness of his expression. This wasn't Ajari mocking human behavior, this was the mythological, an apex predator, looking back at her.

  Next to her, Sebastian stomped his hoof, his lips peeling back to expose his lethally sharp teeth as he let out a sound that would have been called a growl if not for his equine body.

  "Even the Kyren senses it," Ajari said.

  Eva did too, if she was being honest. There was something about the lake that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Her skin itched with its wrongness.

  Ajari hopped down, landing in the wagon with a grace belied by his large form. The wagon barely shuddered under his weight. Eva didn't move, cognizant of the sharp claws tipping his hands and how those claws could rend the flesh from her bones with little effort on his part.

  "You should inform Darius and Caden of your concerns," she told him. "They can't act unless they know."

  His was a predator's smile as he leaned down, one claw reaching out to tug on a strand of hair that had come loose from her braid. He moved past her, slipping to the back of the wagon before she could react. "That's what I have you for, little speaker."

  She spun with him. "I can't do that."

  "You're our intermediary," he said, lifting an eyebrow. "Refusing would endanger the treaty."

  She jerked her thumb at Sebastian. "I'm his intermediary, not yours."

  If anyone was to be the Tenrin's go-between, it would be Shea. Ajari's people had given her a name and everything. The Flock's Burning One.

  "Ah, didn't I tell you. The Kyren pick the intermediary. You act as a spokesperson for us all when called on. And Caller—I'm calling on you now." His expression held a dangerous edge.

  "You tricked me," Eva said in a low voice. This was not how he'd presented the role to Fallon and Shea. Nowhere in there was there anything about her being the intermediary for all mythologicals.

  "I'm a mythological. What did you expect?" he asked.

  Not this.

  It was on the tip of Eva's tongue to refuse. If she allowed them to push her around, they would take it as their right. She'd go from being the punching bag of her old village to being one for them. She refused to be that person again.

  Eva bit back the words she wanted to say. As much as she wanted to refuse, she couldn't. She'd given her word to do her best. She could do no other than to honor it.

  "You might have won this time," she told Ajari evenly. "But I want you to think on this. I'm not the fastest learner, but I learn well. When you treat me the way a human might, I can only respond in kind. What form do you want the relationship between us to take? One of deceit and manipulation? Because if so, you're well on your way to realizing that future."

  Eva pushed past him, not looking at Sebastian as anger made her hands shake. She shouldn't be surprised. Not really. All they had done was prove that a piece of them was all too similar to a human. It was a piece she would have been happy never to have seen.

  She hopped out of the wagon and strode toward where Darius and his most trusted advisors conferred, spotting Hanna in their midst. The other woman had been friendly the few times their paths had crossed, but she didn't yet consider the warrior a friend.

  She reached them and hesitated, unsure what to do next.

  She might be the Kyren's voice—and evidently Ajari's too—but that didn't mean her status among the Tratori had changed. She was still a throwaway, a tagalong. Not someone who could casually approach a general and issue demands.

  "We can send our people out in teams of five. Use our strongest swimmers to test the current and establish lines for the rest," a bald man named Jedrek was saying.

  "Be better to go around it," Fiona said. "Ten daneas that wagon's wheels are going to sink as soon as it gets halfway across."

  Hanna scoffed. "No one is going to take you up on that bet, Fiona. We all know that's exactly what's going to happen."

  "Could build a boat," Jedrek volunteered.

  "Who among us knows how to build a boat?" Fiona asked.

  Jedrek shrugged. "Maybe one of the throwaways, or even the pathfinder. I don't know. I thought this was a brainstorming session. I'm brainstorming."

  "More like talking out of your ass," Fiona muttered.

  Hanna smirked.

  "Perhaps the little herd mistress has a suggestion for us," Darius said, raising his head. Being under his regard was like having a wolf focus on you. "Maybe she'll suggest we leave that ridiculous contraption behind."

  Eva suddenly found herself the focus of several pairs of eyes. Fiona shrugged slightly at her as if to apologize for the genera
l's ill mood.

  "The mythologicals sent me to tell you they think there is something wrong with the water," Eva said, spitting out the message before she could let herself think better of it.

  Focus on what needs doing, leave everything else behind, she told herself.

  Darius stared at her for several moments, silent. It gave her time to glance around uneasily. Caden, at his side, watched her evenly, his expression unchanging.

  "And?" Darius demanded.

  "They recommend finding another way around." She'd decided to keep the message simple and to leave out her own feelings about the water and what might be dwelling beneath. This way he'd have less to question.

  Darius's head bowed as a groan slipped out. "I never thought I'd take advice from a horse and a human bird."

  "They’re called Kyren and Tenrin," Eva pointed out.

  Darius lifted his head as those next to him stared at Eva as if she was out of her mind. Too late she realized she probably should have kept her mouth shut. Even if Darius's terms for them had been wrong and it was her job as their intermediary to help in human-mythological relations.

  "Is that so?" he asked.

  Eva's uncertain gaze darted to Caden's and back to Darius. What did he want her to say? He knew it was. Forcing her say it was just mean. "It is."

  "The girl's right," Reece said, appearing out of nowhere. The pathfinder looked half-drowned, his hair dripping water and his clothes sopping wet. "Going through that water will end in the death of everyone here."

  A stinging curse escaped Fiona while the rest of those assembled looked like they'd bitten into something sour.

  "What did you find?" Darius asked, his expression alert and attentive in a way it hadn't been when Eva had voiced the mythological's concerns. It made her want to say some sharp words of her own.

  A look of admonition from Caden had her biting those back. Probably for the best.

  "This lake, river, whatever you want to call it, wasn't here the last time I came through," Reece said. "I put out a little bait and nearly got pulled under by whatever was down there. I recommend not investigating further."

  "I thought that was what you pathfinders did," Jedrek said, looking confused. "Poke the hornet’s nest and see what comes out."

  Reece let out a long sigh. "That might work for my cousin, but the rest of us prefer to avoid the resulting stings."

  There were sounds of assent from those around Eva. It seemed Reece wasn't the only one accustomed to that particular trait of his cousin.

  "I, for one, appreciate that," Jedrek said.

  "You would, Jedrek," Fiona scoffed.

  Jedrek looked up at the warrior. "Most of us who are sane would."

  Hanna snickered from behind Fiona, the sound cutting off abruptly when the other woman turned and glared. Hanna sobered, though amusement still tugged at her lips.

  "Did they say anything else?" Caden asked, his quiet voice cutting through the brewing argument.

  Eva hesitated. "Ajari said it smelled like rot and death."

  "Is that it?" Caden asked, his expression expectant as if he could see inside Eva's mind and knew she was holding back.

  She shook her head. "That's all they shared."

  His eyes narrowed slightly. If she hadn't been watching him so closely, she might never have noticed.

  "It's enough," Darius said dryly. "Far be it for me to argue with a Tenrin, a Kyren, and a pathfinder. We'll go around."

  Eva released the breath she'd been holding, the knot in her stomach loosening slightly.

  "Herd mistress.” Darius stopped her as she started to move away. Eva paused, looking back at him in question. His smile didn't reach his eyes. "Today will be the last day for the wagon."

  His tone didn't invite questioning or resistance. Eva got the feeling that while she might have gotten away with her first request, pushing him on this would only lead to trouble for her.

  She jerked her chin down in acknowledgment. "Of course, general."

  CHAPTER NINE

  Ajari was waiting expectantly when Eva climbed into the bed of the wagon. "Well?"

  "They agreed to go around."

  Eva was startled at the depth of relief that filled Ajari's expression, there and gone in a blink of an eye.

  "Why does this place unsettle you so?" Eva couldn't help but ask.

  She wasn't really surprised when Ajari ignored her.

  Left with no other choice, she addressed Sebastian, "You're going to get your wish. This is the last day Darius will permit the use of the wagon. After this, you're walking like the rest of us."

  Sebastian's ears pricked forward and an anticipatory expression showed on his equine face.

  She'd had a feeling he'd have that reaction.

  A small whisper of sound reached them, the furtive nature of it arousing Eva's suspicions. She stuck her foot in a slat, climbing up the wall as silently as she could. She had nothing close to Ajari's ability to slip unseen and unremarked through the world, but she was pretty proud of herself when she spotted a ginger head as its owner crept around the side of the wagon.

  "What are you doing?" she asked.

  Kent started, jerking back from where he'd been trying to peer into the wagon. Ajari was beside him in the next second, grabbing the back of his shirt and jerking him to face Eva where she still clung to the wagon wall.

  "Now, what are you doing?" she asked Ajari in exasperation.

  He aimed a feral smile her way. "Making sure the mouse doesn't scurry back to its burrow."

  The mouse in question squeaked, unease chasing across his face.

  Eva thought it telling that Ajari referred to all humans as mice, even her, the supposed intermediary. It made her wonder how the Tenrin really saw humans, alliance or not. Or, perhaps it was a facade Ajari put up to protect himself.

  "Oi, let him go," a strident voice shouted.

  Vincent strode up to the wagon from where he and the others had been taking a break a few feet away. His cheeks were red with anger and his chest pushed out. Hate and fear had turned his face ugly.

  "The likes of you got no right to be laying your hands on us," Vincent spat.

  Ajari cocked his head, his expression unimpressed as a sly smile spread across his lips. "You're welcome to come and get him."

  Vincent's face darkened further as something approaching rage descended. He lunged at Ajari, his hands outstretched. Ajari slid out of the way, taking his captured prey with him.

  The other throwaways started for them.

  Eva was tempted to leave the throwaways to learn why mythologicals were such fearsome creatures. If she intervened, she knew she wouldn't be thanked for it.

  Unfortunately, the Trateri were beginning to take notice of the small drama occurring next to the wagon. They, at least, knew how terrible the Tenrin could be. They didn't need another reminder.

  "Ajari, enough. Let him go," Eva ordered.

  Ajari stilled, glancing up at her, the predator still in his gaze. She didn't move, cognizant of how close to death she was in that moment.

  She stared down at him with an implacable expression. If he wanted to make her his spokesperson, his intermediary, then he was going to listen when she spoke. Otherwise, this entire thing was just a farce, and she, just a puppet.

  She was no one's doll to pick up and play with when it was convenient.

  Ajari smirked, releasing Kent and stepping back. With a powerful leap he landed on the wagon wall, scaling it until he perched atop it. There he sat, cleaning his claws as he smugly watched the throwaways gather below Eva where she still clung to the wall’s edge.

  Her arms shook, as holding herself up was beginning to take a toll. Sebastian shifted under her, his strong back coming up to meet her feet. She hesitated only a moment—using him as a step stool felt wrong—before deciding it was that or fall.

  The throwaways milled at the base of the wagon, looking up at the mythological, rage in their posture. All the anger they couldn’t give to the Trateri was
spilling out with a new, safer—in their minds at least—target.

  "You going to let a woman play your strings like that?" Vincent asked, his smirk vicious as his gaze moved between the two of them.

  Eva was quiet, waiting to see how Ajari would respond.

  "Why wouldn't I?" Ajari asked. "Her iron hand is wrapped with velvet and I find I have no need for freedom quite yet."

  Vincent paused, his expression confused before his gaze shifted to Eva. "Is this what you've been reduced to? Sleeping with monsters?"

  "Why is it when some men are faced with a woman in power, they always assume she's slept her way to the top?" Eva asked coldly. She didn't care what these men and their little minds thought. "You should be thankful I stopped him and be on your way."

  Vincent didn't want to go. That much was obvious, more so, because it was a woman telling him to. A Lowland woman who should know her place.

  She could see the refusal on his face and braced. Ajari dropped the pretense of cleaning his claws as he prepared to attack.

  "You heard her, move along," Caden ordered.

  For several seconds, none of the men moved. Caden took a threatening step toward them, eyes calm as his hand dropped to his waist and the sword there. It was all the incentive they needed. Vincent backed away, chancing one last glance at Eva.

  "We're not done with this," he threatened.

  "You are if you want to remain among the breathing." Caden stepped toward him. "You don't look at her. You don't talk to her. Test me on this and we're going to have a problem."

  Vincent stalked away, his companions trailing behind.

  The only one to remain was Kent.

  Caden arched an eyebrow at him. "Was I not clear?"

  "Yes, sir," Kent said, hesitating and casting a pleading glance up at Eva. When she frowned in confusion, his shoulders slumped before he too, slunk away.

  "It is important to keep the rodent population down," Ajari instructed in a low voice. "Otherwise, they can unite and go for your throat."

  Eva's sigh was filled with exasperation. "It's a wonder sometimes that we have any alliance with your people given the way you refer to us."

  Ajari hummed. "You persist in seeing us as human. We're not. It's best if you remember that."