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“Or him,” Massi reminded him. “Maybe there’ll be a handsome Venyatux in that column who will carry me off somewhere private.”

“Shut up,” Luc told her, and then rode forward to meet the column and find Ava, while Massi’s laughter rang out behind him, warming him through.

Chapter 9

Ava stood, hesitant, her tent in her hand.

Did she put it up? Or assume she would spend the night with Luc?

She didn’t know, and felt foolish standing there, debating with herself.

With a huff, she set the tent up anyway. Stored her things there.

She had been off duty since late afternoon, as they approached the Rising Wave.

She had looked for Luc, but she guessed he was busy working on the logistics of merging two massive armies, and she didn’t ask for his whereabouts.

She missed him.

Wanted the closeness they’d had this morning.

But she would have to meet his other friends, the lieutenants he’d been through the Chosen camps with, and they might treat her with the same suspicion as Dak.

Again, she huffed. So what?

She had faced harder obstacles than that. The Queen’s Herald, for one.

Although she didn’t care what her cousin thought of her, and she did care what Luc’s friends thought. They were important to him.

With a sigh, she shrugged her shoulders to loosen them, pulled on her cloak, and started walking through the camp toward the Rising Wave.

She was hailed by friends as she wound her way between tents and the campfires that were being lit as the sun set.

She waved back but didn’t let herself get distracted until Deni called to her from a campfire, and as she turned toward him, she felt her cloak tingle.

Someone nearby did not mean her well.

She stopped to look around more carefully, relaxed a little when she saw Nabi was sitting with the group.

She already knew he didn’t like her.

“Have you eaten?” Deni asked.

“Not yet.” Maybe she should. She had no idea whether Luc would have eaten a meal yet or not.

She drew closer, and the working in her cloak intensified its warning.

She looked at each face, and decided it might be someone watching from a distance, not one of the people sitting around the fire. Even Nabi didn’t dislike her this much. That prize went to whoever hunted her.

She forced herself not to look around. Not to give away that she knew he was watching.

“Off to find the Commander?” Deni asked her.

“Yes.” She took the bowl he handed her with a smile.

“Looking for more luxury than we can give you?” Nabi sneered from the other side of the fire.

When she looked up, she kept the look of amusement firmly in place, although her feelings had turned to irritation.