“Welcome.” Susa's general, Dix, greeted him with a smile as they climbed out of the sky craft and made their way toward the small group. Her blonde hair, a darker gold than Taya's, was braided in an intricate pattern, and her warmth was genuine.
“We have news from the border.” Garek had made a promise last time he was here that he would share what intelligence he could with Susa.
She had immediately seen the uses of the sky craft and what flying over the surrounding borders could tell them, although he guessed she would not have anticipated an invasion of her territory.
“Who are your friends?” Dix asked. She still had the friendly smile on her face, but he realized she would not let him near Susa without first knowing who would be coming with him.
He nodded to her in respect. “This is Aidan, the new liege of West Lathor. Rig is part of Juli's Night Guard and Kima is a lieutenant in the Iron Guard.”
There was a sudden hush.
It occurred to Garek that between them they represented the full strength of West Lathor. There was perhaps no better envoy to speak to Susa, even if he had planned it carefully.
Dix sent him a quick, searching look, and when he said nothing more, gave a decisive nod.
“Welcome,” she said again, this time bowing slightly to Aidan. “Come with me.”
She flicked her hand and four guards broke away from the group, boxing them in as they walked into the low, sprawling palace.
Dix took them to the big, comfortable room Garek had been in before when he'd brought Zek back from Luf with an injury.
“Is Zek recovered? Is he here?”
Dix paused in the doorway, clearly on her way to alert her liege. “He's here. I'll tell him you're visiting.”
She disappeared, leaving the guards behind to watch them, but there was no real sense they were being treated as a threat—it was more caution, and that was something everyone could understand.
Aidan being with them had something to do with it.
As the liege of West Lathor, he was presenting himself with minimal guards, although powerful ones. It would have been a good move, if they had come officially.
That it had worked out in their favor was just luck.
Susa played no power games--there was no waiting.
Zek arrived in less than five minutes. He was looking much better than he had the last time Garek saw him, his stab wound had obviously healed well.
He slapped Garek's back, and then bowed to Aidan with a grin. “I hear congratulations are in order.”
Aidan grinned back but before he could reply, Susa walked in with Dix at her side.
Aidan stepped forward and bowed as elegantly as the princeling he was.
“Peace to your house and your state,” he said.
“And to yours.” Susa looked extremely satisfied, and Garek recalled her telling him last time that she hoped Aidan would step up as liege soon.
“You bring an interesting entourage,” Susa said, and Aidan slid a look at Garek and then simply nodded.
“These are interesting times.”
“Did you find Taya?” Zek asked Garek, and because that question was asked before any others, Garek gave a bow himself.
“I did. And she came across information that will interest you. But my suggestion is that we tell you all the news we have while we travel to the far south of your border in the sky craft.”
Susa frowned. “Because?”
“Because you have trespassers.”
Susa looked at him, then glanced at Dix. “How many of us can you take?”
“Eighty, if you want to take that many.”
Susa and Dix exchanged another look.
“Get twenty, with tents and provisions, for now.” Susa said, and Dix stepped out of the room.
“What will I find when we get there, Garek of Pan Nuk?”
“Three armies, using your territory as a crossing point to get into Favre and then on to West Lathor.”
There was silence for a beat.
“Three armies?”
Garek nodded. “You know who they are.”
“I do.” Susa tapped her lips, looking toward Aidan. “You confirm this?”
Aidan nodded.
Susa sighed. “Zek, draft a missive to the council. The sooner it goes to them, the better. We might as well get those wheels rolling now.”
The merchant, who Garek had come to understand was far more than just a trader for the state of Dartalia, walked to where a large desk was pushed up against a wall, and began pulling out parchment and pen.
“Have you send word to the council, too?” Susa turned to Aidan.
Her eyes widened with surprise at the shake of his head.
“We came straight here after we saw them. I haven't been home.” Aidan only spoke the truth, but Kima shifted uncomfortably at his words.
“Would you like to do it now?” Susa asked him. “Zek can arrange for your missive to go with ours.”
“I would be very much obliged.” Aidan clasped both hands together, and obviously much pleased, Susa led him to another desk and gave him what he needed.
“Your boss needs to change her methods soon, or there won't be anything worth saving.” Garek spoke softly to Kima, and she gave a nod of acknowledgment without looking at him.
Although she couldn't have heard him, Susa turned in Garek's direction when Aidan was scribbling his formal protest to the council.
“Which of your companions is from the Iron Guard?” she asked, her eyes bright with interest as she looked Rig and Kima over.
Kima stepped forward, clenched fist over breast. “Respect to your house.”
“Thank you.” Susa looked at her carefully, and Garek knew she was seeing the worn clothing, the missing iron discs where they'd come off the uniform, and the gauntness in Kima's face. “You have been on assignment?” she asked.
Garek realized she thought the Iron Guard had been on reconnaissance, spying on Harven, Kadmine and Favrean troops in the mountains.
Kima looked up. “The most important assignment of my career.”
“Ah.” Susa looked over at Garek. “It is a pity the rumors of the Iron Guard's disappearance was attributed to them abandoning their liege, rather than putting themselves in danger for him.”
Garek lifted his shoulders. “I didn't know the truth of what happened myself until a few days ago.”
Susa said nothing more, but Garek could see her realigning her thoughts, rewriting everything she'd heard.
It was to West Lathor's benefit, and he felt no guilt in misleading her when it came to the perceived strength of his state.
And the Iron Guard were back. He would make sure of it if that became necessary, but he didn't think it would.
General Hanson had a deep, big heart. It was why she hadn't abandoned West Lathor, even when it looked like she would never get her way. She wanted to save her people, even at massive risk to herself.
“I'm done.” Aidan walked over to them, and Garek could see the wariness in his eyes as he realized Susa had been speaking to Kima.
It wouldn't do at all for the Dartalian liege to learn that he had been imprisoned by one of his own generals.
“It's best we leave as soon as possible,” Garek said, and his tone obviously relaxed Aidan, because he offered Susa his arm.
The Dartalian liege took it with a graceful nod of her head.
The picture of unity wasn't lost on Garek, or anyone else in the room.
Aidan did diplomacy well.
And diplomacy, and some old-fashioned friendships, were what they needed badly right now.
Garek set the sky craft down where Susa instructed him to. A narrow valley, which looked to be the only viable way out of Dartalia into Favre.
It was the perfect spot to stop the army they'd flown over half an hour before in its tracks. Except . . .
He looked at the twenty guards jogging down the ramp at the back of the sky craft, and, under Dix's instruction, setting up a thin line of resi
stance.
“It's symbolic, for now.” Susa had obviously seen the look on his face. “Whether I have twenty or two hundred, they have many, many more.”
She had been shocked at how many where in the combined army. She'd gone quiet, and then she and Dix had shared a long look, when they'd flown over the troops. She'd directed them to this spot in a soft voice, although there was no weakness there. If he were to guess, he would say it was fury tempered with control.
“I don't want to wait for them to get here,” she said when the guards they'd brought began setting up camp.
“It will take the armies hours to reach this point,” Aidan agreed.
“I'm eager to talk to whoever is leading this army. And then, if it isn't too much trouble, I'll ask for one more ride to Valian to get more troops for this bottleneck. By then, we'll know if we need to ask West Lathor and our other allies for aid, or not.”
There was something grim and determined about her words.
“West Lathor will be with you to the end,” Aidan said.
That there was no down side in this for West Lathor need not be said. It was true, but Aidan's words were welcome anyway.
It was almost as if the offer of support was all Susa needed to stand a little taller.
“I've had my problems with Harven, but Kadmine and Favre have never given me cause to doubt them until today.” She straightened the cloak she'd thrown over her clothes, which resembled a modified, but still practical, guard uniform.
“You should have more than just me to guard you when you meet them,” Dix said, glancing out at the twenty guards outside with a frown.
“It will be our honor to provide a guard,” Rig said, and after a moment of hesitation, Dix gave a nod.
It seemed her assessment was good enough for her liege, because Susa nodded, too.
“It would be my honor to accept.”
Garek lifted the sky craft back into the air. He ignored the front troops, the advance parties, with their small units of six or less guards, all riding zanir.
He skimmed low over them, making them duck for cover, and followed the contours of the landscape until he came to the main body of the column.
“There's a good place to set down,” Aidan said, and Garek could just hear the suppressed excitement in his voice.
He knew the value of theatre, did the princeling. And they would be making quite an entrance.
As instructed, he landed on the flat field in front of the army.
They came to a halt, and he saw a line of archers had formed at the front of the column, crossbows raised.
They rained arrows down on the craft.
He waited it out.
One . . . two . . . as the third wave hit and glanced harmlessly off the outer shell of the craft, he shook his head.
“Might as well waste their arrows,” he said, and saw Kima give a quick grin. “Would you like to help me make a point?” he asked her.
She seemed both surprised and intrigued. Gave a nod.
“We won't be long.” He turned to Susa. “Could you write a short request for talks, if you have any parchment?”
Susa said nothing, although her eyes were bright with interest. She had brought a small satchel with her, and she quickly crouched on the floor of the craft, took out a piece of parchment and wrote a few lines.
He looked over her shoulder and suppressed a laugh at her wording. He wished they were close enough to see the face of whichever general received it.
She handed it to him, and he gave it to Kima, just catching Aidan's grin as he stepped out of the craft and dropped to the ground.
He waited for Kima to step onto the ladder.
“Wait there,” he called before she started down it. “Can you see the column's front shield?”
She nodded.
He threw up one of the arrows that had landed on the ground, and she caught it easily.
“Stab the message onto the arrow, call your Change and throw it at the shield.”
She shook her head. “My control is excellent, but I can't get it that far without a bow.”
“You have me instead of a bow.”
She frowned at him and then shrugged, and he could see her focus on the shield up ahead. It was decorated with metal plates depicting the units of the column and they gleamed in the Star's light, but it was mostly made of wood.
“Ready?” she asked him.
He nodded and she threw, her face fierce with concentration. He called his own Change and propelled the arrow forward. It wobbled a little as she reacted in surprise at the touch of his calling with hers, but she recovered well, and when it hit the shield dead center with a crack audible even to their ears, she gave a short, low chuckle.
They shared a look, hers of appreciation.
“That's what Taya was talking about? When you helped her?”
He nodded.
Aidan stuck his head out. “They've raised the peace flag.”
Garek saw they had. “Let them come to us. I'd rather be close to the sky craft, in case we need to go in a hurry.”
It seemed everyone agreed with that. They all climbed out of the craft and ranged themselves in front of it as six officers approached on zanir, the saddles brightly trimmed in unit colors.
Aidan stood beside Susa, with Rig and Kima on either side of them. Garek stepped forward, positioning himself a little in front and to Aidan's right, Dix took up her place in line with him at Susa's left.
The zanir were coming in fast, and their riders showed no signs of reining them in.
It was either an attack or it was an attempt to intimidate.
“Dix.” Garek glanced over at her. She had drawn her sword, and was holding it with both hands. “What Change do you call?”
“Earth.”
He had thought so. Had seen a few things that made him suspect. “See that point there, were the grass ends. Throw dust into the air.”
She looked at him for a moment, curious, and then did it, and Garek easily called his own Change to meld with hers and keep the soil suspended in the air to create a swirling barrier.
It looked as if a wall of red dust boiled up out of the ground to bar the way.
The zanir reacted, rearing up in panic, and the officers riding them had to slow, and then bring them to a stop to calm them down.
When it seemed they were going to stay where they were, Garek pulled back, and so did Dix.
A little of the dust hung naturally in the air for a moment, and then cleared.
There was a long silence.
Eventually one of the riders moved forward slowly.
Garek saw the moment when the seal of Dartalia, which formed the clasp of Susa's cloak, caught his eye.
He came to a stop again.
He'd planned to take the bluster and arrogance route. Garek saw it in his posture and on his face. But the official seal stole the wind from his sails.
“You would run down the liege of Dartalia on her own land?” Susa asked him coldly. “You would dare?”
Garek hadn't looked her way while he'd been creating the wall of dust, but now he heard the icy fury in her voice. She had not liked the intimidation tactic. She had not liked it at all.
“No.” The rider looked behind him, and two of the remaining five walked their zanir forward to join him. “We thought . . .”
“What did you think?” Aidan asked. “You raised the peace flag. Does that mean nothing to the people of Harven, Kadmine and Favre?”
The rider shook his head. “We thought you were . . .” His gaze lifted to the sky craft behind them. “How did you come by a sky raider's ship?”
“I'm assuming one of the three of you is from Harven?” Susa looked at them with such a gleam of righteous anger in her eye, they all shifted uncomfortably. “But please, before you go any further, I am Susa, liege of Dartalia.”
“I am Commander Laman of Kadmine.” The man who'd come forward first touched his fingers to his brow, in the way Garek had heard the Kadminians used
as a salute.
“I am the commander of the Favre forces, Selene of Ufolo.” The woman between the two men dipped her head.
There was silence from the last man, and Laman and Selene looked left.
“Calvin?”
He cleared his throat. “Commander Calvin of Harven.” He nodded to Susa. “I had heard the West Lathorians had a sky craft, not the Dartalians.”
There was a stunned silence from his two allies.
“That is right, we do. I am the liege of West Lathor,” Aidan said with a smile. “Aidan of Juli.”
“The liege?” Laman wasn't fast enough to hide his surprise and shock. “I had heard . . .”
He trailed off. His face had gone pale, and Garek caught his eye, gave him a slow, knowing smile.
Yes. We know what you're up to. We understand exactly what is happening here. The element of surprise you thought you had was never there.
“Enough.” Susa kept her voice even, but Garek could hear the undercurrents of outrage. “What are you doing on my land without my permission?”
“It was my understanding that we did have your permission?” The commander from Favre's statement trailed off into a question at the look on Susa's face.
“Not even the neutrality agreement I had with Harven, which I withdrew from some weeks ago, contained any agreement to allow three armies to cross my border.”
“We're nearly out of your territory anyway.” Calvin's voice was cool and reasonable. “Allow us to proceed into Favre, and we'll be gone from your lands by tomorrow afternoon at the latest.”
“I don't reward gross breaches of trust.” Susa drew herself up. “Turn your troops around, and go back the way you came. And I will warn you, the full council has already been informed of this.”
“And if we don't?” Calvin asked softly.
Garek readied himself to call his Change and squeeze the air from the bastard’s lungs, but Susa laughed.
“Really?”
“We were given assurances—” Laman looked from Susa to Calvin. “We were told that we had your permission.” He sounded slightly recalcitrant, as if he suspected Susa had inconveniently changed her mind.
“What document was shown to you?” Susa asked him, and while she seemed perfectly reasonable, Garek noticed her hands were fisted.
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