Shea ignored the men's shouts behind her. She raced over uneven ground, leaping down steep grades, trusting her legs to hold her. She sank deep into her mind, visiting a place she had made her home over the years. A place where the protests of her body, the aches and pains, disappeared and all that was left was the surge of her muscles, the air pumping in her lungs and the blood flowing through her veins. The serenity of this place and the single minded purpose of taking that next step made her feel like she was flying, like she would never stop. In that moment, it felt like she could run all the way to the Highlands without ever stopping.
Her feet found firm purchase without her even thinking about it and almost immediately she left Caden and his men behind, their voices fading as she widened the distance between them.
Shea caught glimpses of Indra and her mount racing through the trees. Their progress was much slower than hers as the horse struggled with the uneven surface.
Sea leapt through the air, using a fallen tree as a spring board to give her jump height and tackled Indra, their combined weight carrying them both to the ground for a bone jarring thud. They rolled down a sharp incline, tumbling end over end. Shea landed one punch and then a vicious kick to Indra's stomach before the momentum carried them away from each other.
A tree caught Shea in the side, bringing her to an abrupt halt. Grimacing and touching her split lip gingerly, she found her feet and staggered towards the other woman.
Indra whirled on Shea, drawing her blade in the process. It was no longer then her forearm but looked more than sharp enough. The way she held it said she'd spent many an hour practicing.
"You?! I should have known," Indra spat.
Shea watched Indra and her body language very carefully. She had her own blade out as they circled each other.
"You and your damn interference are the reason nothing has gone according to plan."
Shea couldn't argue with that and didn't even try, concentrating instead on catching her breath. She'd need it for the upcoming fight.
Indra gave her a cruel smile. "It's to my fortune that you stopped me. I can finally dispose of the hindrance. Once you're dead, Fallon should be easy enough to kill."
Shea snorted inwardly at that. She doubted it. The lady was mad if she thought so.
"Thank you for making it so easy to get rid of you," Indra continued. "It'll spare me the trouble of having to do so later."
"Anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?" Shea asked.
Indra gave her another smile that didn't touch her eyes and then feinted towards her. Shea leapt back and watched carefully.
Indra closed in, her blade moving almost too fast to follow. It was mostly luck that Shea parried at the last moment. The more experienced woman forced Shea back as she executed a series of complicated maneuvers, scoring a strike on Shea's forearm and left leg.
Shea sidestepped and circled quickly in the opposite direction, feeling the sting on both her arm and leg and then the cold slide of blood. The one on her arm wasn't bad, striking close to bone but still shallow and being no longer than a finger length. It was the wound on her leg that worried her more. That one had bitten deep and bled profusely from a slice longer than her hand.
She needed to finish this quickly, before blood loss weakened her.
"Why do this?" she asked.
Indra liked to talk. Shea hoped to indulge that need.
"Why? Why?" the woman's voice rose higher on each word. "Why not? That man had everything I ever wanted, and he wouldn't even look twice at me. When I proposed our union , he laughed at me. Me! He should have been licking my feet in gratitude for even offering to mate with one from such poor family lines."
Anger suffused Indra's face, turning her beauty into a thing of ugliness. She swung at Shea, her movement lacking the same grace and pinpoint accuracy of moments before.
Shea evaded and then reversed her swing, missing but only because the other woman stumbled, falling and then rolling out of the way.
"I though Fallon's grandfather was the warlord before him?"
"But his mother was a common Lowland strumpet," Indra spat. "He's not even full Trateri. His father used the Trateri's venom to bring her into the clan. The same ritual he used to make you one of us. I guess he and his father share similar tastes. All the more reason to get him out of the way so he can't taint our bloodlines any further."
Shea gave her a wicked grin. "Sounds to me like you have more in common with a strumpet. Trying to bargain your way into power with what's between your legs and all."
Her words had the effect she intended, driving Indra into a rage. She attacked without hesitation, hammering at Shea's defense.
Shea waited for her moment. Numbness was spreading from the cuts on her legs and arms, making her slow. She blocked Indra's attacks over and over again, her arm growing weary and heavy.
Anticipating victory, Indra fell into a repetitive pattern, her blows becoming predictable as she committed all of her strength behind them.
Shea smoothly stepped to the side of one strike, letting Indra's forward momentum carry her as Shea twisted and drove the point of her blade into Indra's shoulder.
Indra made a peculiar gasp as she bent and flailed with one arm, trying to knock Shea back.
Shea ducked and then hooked one leg behind Indra's, grabbing the flailing arm and bringing it down over her waist to force the other woman off balance.
She felt it as the woman's weight reached the point of no return, following up smoothly as Indra fell to the ground with Shea on top of her. She trapped Indra's sword hand with her knee and then brought her blade up to her neck.
"Shea!"
"What was that you were saying?" Shea asked, panting slightly "Something about removing the hindrance. How about I help you with that?"
"Shea, that's enough," Caden said from right next to her. His sword was out and pointed at Indra.
"Do it," Indra hissed, raising her head and trying to impale herself on Shea's blade.
Shea smiled at the woman under her. It wasn't a very nice smile, evidenced by Indra's barely perceptible flinch. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? But, no, I think that would be too easy a punishment for you. I'm sure Fallon and Caden have some questions for you."
"Coward."
Shea paused in the act of climbing off Indra. She bent down, bringing her face close to the other woman's.
"I don't think so. I'm not the one fleeing from the consequences of my actions. That would be you. Seems those pure bloodlines you have don't protect against common defects of character. Such a pity."
With that, Shea stood and let Caden take over.
Two men moved past her and grabbed Indra, flipping her over and binding her arms behind her.
"Thought you agreed to stay hidden and not interfere," Caden said, glaring at her.
Shea shrugged. "That was before I saw her fleeing. I saw a need and pursued it."
He rubbed his head. "Fallon's going to have my head."
"I don't see why. I did catch one of the conspirators."
He gave her a look. One that said he was this close to relegating her to idiot territory. He grabbed her injured arm and jerked it forward. Shea couldn't help the moan that escaped, fighting to stay on her feet as black spots ate at the edges of her vision.
He grabbed a length of cloth and pressed it against the wound to staunch the bleeding, forcing another moan out of her.
"This, this right here is why he wanted you to stay hidden," he said, wrapping another strip of cloth around her arm to hold the compress in place. "He wants you safe, girl."
"There's no such thing as safe in the Broken Lands," Shea said faintly. Boy, she was beginning to feel a little lightheaded. "I think I need to sit down."
Caden cursed, the words out of his mouth heated enough to blister the air. A pair of firm hands guided Shea to a resting spot. It was a good thing too because black spots had stolen nearly all of her vision, and she wasn't entirely sure she would have been able to find her seat on her own.
"I'll let you tell him that," Caden told her, continuing their previous conversation.
He jostled her as he pressed another wad of bandages against the wound on her thigh and then wrapped it tightly.
"Tell him what?"
"That there's no such thing as safety when it comes to you. Then I'll sit back and watch the explosion. It should be a good show."
"I don't know why you think that. It's a fact. Had he left me back at the camp, his enemies might have been just as likely to eliminate me. And, in this situation, I did capture the woman."
A dry bark escaped Caden. It took Shea a second to realize it was a laugh.
"Fallon lives to keep the people he cares about safe. He's done all this to build the foundation of something that will guarantee the survival of the family he intends to have someday. You willingly jeopardizing that is not going to go over well."