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I DREAMED SOMEONE WAS watching me.
Someone lithe, and strong. Man? Woman? I wasn’t sure. They were just beyond my sight, hidden in the shadows. But I could see their eyes glinting in the moonlight.
My unease at this unknown presence grew, the ominous feeling growing until I could no longer contain myself.
“Show yourself!” I started to say.
I came awake instantly, the words I had spoken in my dreams thick on my tongue.
The glint that I had dreamed were watching eyes was actually the glint of sharp metal. Against my neck.
“What’s going on? Who are you?” I demanded.
The person holding the dagger eased off a bit, enough to let me talk, but not far enough that the weapon couldn’t be plunged into my neck at a moment’s notice.
“As you seem to be the group leader, I would like to make a bargain with you.”
I recognized the voice as the young woman from the Hauster stronghold’s great hall. Baxley’s niece by marriage. What was her name again? Shelda.
“I can’t bargain with anyone if I’m lying flat on my back, unable to see who I’m talking to,” I said.
“You may sit up,” Shelda said. “But don’t try anything funny, or my dagger may find its way into your neck. And that would be most unfortunate, don’t you think?”
I sat up slowly, using the time to survey the camp and ascertain if the others were all right. I dragged my hands against the ground, wiggling in my bedroll and scattering nearby pebbles in an effort to make enough noise to wake up the others. From what I could see, everyone else seemed to be fine, but no one was waking. On the other end of the campsite, Rhyss, who was supposed to be keeping watch, was slumped over on a log.
I made a mental note, through the haze clouding my brain, to make sure Rhyss never took a watch by himself again.
I nudged Farrah, who was sleeping the closest to me. She groaned lightly, but didn’t open her eyes.
“What did you do to the others?” I asked Shelda.
“Sleeping powder,” Shelda said. “They won’t wake for quite some time, or unless I give them the antidote to counteract it.”
I cursed mentally. We had been so exhausted, and Farrah so drained from healing Baxley, that we had forgotten to set up any wards. Not that it would have mattered, as Farrah had said the wards were really only effective against the use of magical attacks.
“All right, then, you want to bargain,” I said. “For what? Why didn’t you just put some sleeping powder on me, too? Why wake me up? You could have just stolen Baxley away, and no one would have known until the morning.”
Shelda sank down on my pack, which was lying next to my bedroll. Her dagger still out, she tossed it from hand to hand, the blade catching the moonlight as it went from side to side.
“I’ve been shadowing your group for half a day,” she said. “We discovered all of you — Lord Olivera, the group of false servants, and the girl who Lord Olivera commissioned us to find — were missing in the morning, but it wasn’t until we realized my uncle was gone that I came after you. It wasn’t hard, really, you weren’t even a day’s hard ride away.”
Something Shelda said stuck out at me. “Wait a minute. You said Lord Olivera left the fortress? He’s free? How?”
“When Uncle Baxley left the hill, the magic weakened enough that all the prisoners could escape.” Shelda snorted. “That stupid man. He thinks he’s so quiet and clever, but you can’t outfox a true hunter. I’ve been shadowing him as I’ve been shadowing you.”
“But he’s —”
Shelda stopped tossing her dagger and pointed it straight at me. I swallowed the rest of what I was going to say. “If you don’t mind, may I continue?”
I croaked out a yes.
“Good.” Shelda lowered her dagger. “I’ve overheard some of your conversations, and I witnessed what your friend —” she motioned with her weapon at the sleeping Farrah “— did to help my uncle. It would be very easy to just take Uncle Baxley now and bring him back home, but I don’t think it’s what he wants. Truth be told, I’ve suspected for some time now that my uncle was unhappy.”
It was a bit unsettling to hear this fierce bounty hunter refer to my newfound uncle as her uncle, even though it was accurate. It was even more unsettling to realize that I was actually related to this woman and her outlaw family by marriage.
Her eyes flickered over to Baxley, who was sleeping peacefully a few feet away. Her face softened. “I love my uncle dearly. He ... When my papa died, Uncle Baxley helped raise me like I was his own daughter. I wish he hadn’t left, but I also want him to be happy. After all I’ve seen and heard today have confirmed my suspicions, I’m willing to let him go. And I know my mother and great-grandparents will support my decision.
“But it also creates a problem, because ... we need him. Or rather, we need his Seeker ability. Our family has diminished over time; I was very young when Eldan passed away, but I remember it was a devastating blow to us. We needed his magic more than we’d like to admit. Uncle Baxley’s abilities were helping to restore our family to its original greatness. Even if we could let Uncle Baxley as a person go, we cannot afford to let Uncle Baxley the Seeker go.”
Shelda started tossing her dagger back and forth again. As other people’s nervous habits went, it was incredibly intimidating to me. “Uh ... if you don’t mind, could you just put the dagger down? Besides, I don’t know if you realized, but technically ... we’re family. I know families don’t always get along, but sticking me with a dagger is a rather permanent way to end an argument.”
Shelda’s eyes widened. “That’s right, that part didn’t quite register until you mentioned it just now.” She stuck the dagger into the ground, making me flinch. “Nice to meet you, cousin.”
“Ah ... yes. It’s lovely to meet you as well. Cousin.”
Awkwardly, we shook hands. I smiled at the absurdity of the situation, which turned into full-blown laughter. Shelda’s laughter joined mine, a surprisingly lilting sound.
After our laughter died down, I said, “Thank you for not killing me. Now that you’ve told me your story, what do you want me to do about it? I’m not sure I can do anything about it.”
Shelda shrugged uncertainly. “Honestly, I don’t really know what can be done, if anything. I just know that once his magical tether is removed, he will no longer be obligated to assist the Family with his Seeker ability. I don’t know ... is there some way to remove his ability and contain it somehow, and give it to us?”
I balked at the idea. “I ... I don’t know if that can be done. From what I know, removing someone’s Seeker ability is dangerous, if not outright deadly. My father — Uncle Baxley’s brother — might know more, but we won’t know for sure until we get back home to Orchwell.”
Shelda thought for a moment, then nodded decisively. “Very well, then. I will also travel to Orchwell, instead of returning home. Once I know what the options are, I can decide what to do next.”
“That sounds reasonable. Will you be joining our group on the road, then?” I waved around the campsite. “There’s plenty of room if you’d like to settle in.”
She scoffed. “Join a group that sounds like a herd of crashing elephants? No, thank you.”
Ouch. I consoled myself with the thought that Shelda and I had very different professions.
“I travel better alone. I’ll continue to shadow your group, and I’ll meet you in Orchwell,” Shelda said. She looked at Uncle Baxley again. “You can tell the others about my visit, but don’t bother to seek me out. If you need me, I’ll be there. The most important thing is to get him to Orchwell.”
With that, she grabbed her dagger and stood up in one fluid motion, disappearing into the nighttime shadows. She had completely melted into the forest when I belatedly realized: I still had unanswered questions about Lord Olivera following us.