"I'm positive, Lady Cosette. Couldn't be surer. He wants the treasure too. Probably hunting for it as we speak!"
Cosette couldn't resist a sneer. Not at her informant; he was a disgusting little man, not even worth the energy of a sneer. No, at the gall of this...this...this man! Who was he, to hunt the same treasure as her?
She leapt up from her chair, striding across the room in agitation. She didn't notice the little man's eyes follow her: her tight breeches showed off every curve of her legs, and her coat barely covered the full swell of her bottom. She had often wished she were less comely to men, stronger looking. And, fond of wearing men's clothes as she was, she always found it a struggle to close her coats over her large breasts.
She shook her head, waving the small man away. She couldn't go hunting for the treasure with this man doing the same. The best thing to do, she decided firmly, was to find him and warn him off. Her reputation, as one of the best treasure hunters in Algadion, might do that by itself! If not, she had plenty of weapons, and knew how to use them.
"Devrae!" She called. Her second-in-command appeared immediately. "Devrae, I'm going out to find this man. I don't know when I'll be back. Move my men outside the city walls, ready to move north tomorrow morning."
"Yes, Captain," he replied formally, and she smiled. 'Captain' was much better to hear than 'Lady'.
Her informant had told her which tavern he'd heard of this man in; she'd try there first, before searching elsewhere.
*
She coughed, waving a hand in front of her face to clear the heavy smoke. Why did men have to be so fond of those dratted pipes? She forbade the men in her band from smoking.
"Innkeeper!" she called over the noise. "Innkeeper!" He turned to look at her, and she bristled when his eyes immediately dropped to her breasts. "Innkeeper, do you know where I can find a man named Goraith? A treasure-hunter?"
The innkeeper opened his mouth to speak, but the man sitting on a stool next to where Cosette stood cut him off. "And why would a doxie like you want to know that?"
Cosette swelled in indignation, the innkeeper's eyes widening in delight at the movement of her breasts. "Doxie! How dare you? I'm no doxie!"
"Dressed like that? You're showing your bottom off to the whole inn. What else would you be?"
"I'm a treasure hunter!" she snapped, face reddening. "Are you Goraith?"
He looked her up and down, eyes lingering on her chest. "Depends what you want."
"I want to speak to you. Somewhere private."
He laughed in amusement. "First you tell me you're a treasure hunter, then you offer to go somewhere private with me? What sort of girl are you?"
"I'm a woman. And I'm not afraid of you, don't worry."
He laughed again. "Not afraid? Maybe you should be. If you want to talk somewhere private, come with me to my room."
"Fine," she snapped, following him out of the crowded room. In the corridor outside, better lit with lamps, she got her first good look at the man, and gasped in shock.
She had expected some grizzled old mercenary, or oiled merchant's son, not this...warrior! Muscles bulged in his arms and chest, but not overly so; not so he looked like a freak-show strong man. She guessed he could probably lift the weights, though. He looked strong. Much stronger than her.
He turned slightly, and she got her second shock. He was handsome, in a very masculine way. She felt something shiver low in her belly, and resisted the urge to rub her legs together.
She gave her head a brief shake. What was she thinking? What did it matter how he looked, or how attracted to him she felt? She was here to scare him off, and that was it.
She followed him into his room, ready to deliver a tongue-lashing he'd remember a long time from now. "Look, you – " she began, then stopped.
He hadn't done anything but sit on the bed and stretch, but that was enough to scatter her wits completely. She blushed darkly as he raised a eyebrow, and struggled to continue.
"Look," she said again, in a much softer tone, "Someone told me you were after the mythical treasure in the Dobami mountains, the one with the power to control people's minds. Well, you've got to stop." She paused, aware she didn't sound remotely convincing. "You've got to!" she said again, voice rising slightly. "I'm hunting it, and I don't want any competition, so – "
"So you want me to give up?" His voice, low and gravely, sent shivers down her spine.
"Yes," she whimpered softly.
"And who might you be?"
"Cosette," she whispered. "I lead the Stone Eagles."
He nodded briefly. "Aye, I've heard of you. They all say you're pretty good, despite being a woman."
