With a firm resolve to end this meeting as soon as possible, she asked Amaruk, “You haven’t interfered with our hunting for several weeks. Why now?”
“I was curious how attached the new queen was to her subjects.” The man looked at Lizaar’s fingers clenched into a fist and then at her face. “Though I didn’t expect that the previous queen would be visiting me as well. The last time we met, she wasn’t too eager for a chat.”
“Based on your deplorable manners, I can understand,” Lannahi said, drawing his attention away from the landshaper. “If you wanted to talk, you could have simply sent an invitation.”
Amaruk smiled. “As I said, I was curious. If I had sent you one, I wouldn’t have found out how you would react to a threat, would I?”
Lannahi gave him a cool look. “If you wanted to test my patience, know that it is at its finish.”
“By coming here now, you have shown me that you possess more of it than many here expected.”
His statement combined with the way he looked at her cooled her emotions. She regarded the crowd that had gathered in the hall. Some of the shapeshifters were in a human form and some in a wolf form. Most looked at her with reluctance or feigned indifference. Some didn’t meet her eyes as if they were afraid she would curse them. On a few faces, however, she also found curiosity.
Could it be that Amaruk wanted his people to know her?
“You expected revenge from the enchanters, but you didn’t leave your village,” she said, returning her gaze to the alpha. “That is a strategic mistake.”
“That’s what I was told.” Amaruk watched her intensely. “And yet you aren’t now engaged in setting fire to my settlement but in a conversation with me. In your opinion, did I make a mistake in persuading my people to stay?”
Lannahi sensed the tension in those present, but keeping her attention on Amaruk she was surprised she didn’t feel it herself. When she’d read his letter this morning, her reaction was irritation, not fear. He was insolent and arrogant, but she didn’t believe he would hurt the hunters without reason. Not after he’d let her take revenge on the woman he loved.
She glanced at the crowd again. She saw several white-haired women but didn’t recognize Ashkii in any of them. Why wasn’t she by Amaruk’s side?
Was it possible that Lannahi had destroyed their love after all?
She regarded Amaruk but didn’t see resentment in his eyes, only vigilance. He wasn’t sure of her answer but hoped for an understanding.
She replied, “By capturing my hunters, you made a mistake. I told you that if you show me that you are a good neighbor, I will be one as well. Now, I can’t be one, can I?”
Amaruk visibly relaxed. “Aside from a few scratches your hunters are fine. I see no reason why you shouldn’t be.”
Lannahi arched her eyebrow. “Do truly believe that this is the best way to begin negotiations?”
A mocking smile returned to his lips. “Isn’t it?”
“It’s horrible.”
“Good then that it’s behind us.”
She sent him a disapproving look but allowed amusement to appear in her voice. “You have no shame, do you?”
His smile grew. “No if I’m on the way to get what I want.”
“And what do you want?”
“To try something new.”
The room was quiet, but Lannahi had the impression that the tension had dissipated a little.
“I want to see the hunters first,” she said.
Amaruk looked at the man at the door and nodded. Moments later, through the door passed five wolves with cangues around their necks. The wooden restraint must have been as heavy as it looked because the hunters didn’t even try to fight the guards, who led them by the chains attached to the cangues. Lannahi recognized Lorikk in one of the wolves. In his gray eyes, as in those of the other prisoners, burned anger that mixed with shame.
“Do you have any other injuries besides scratches?” she asked. When the wolves shook their heads, she looked at Amaruk. “Release the hunters and send compensation to the city for the interrupted hunt, and I will forgive you for this insult.”
The alpha regarded the angry snouts of the trapped wolves. “Your queen has promised that none of her people will attack first. Take this into account when the guards remove your restraints.”
After these words, he gave a sign to the men holding the chains to let the prisoners go. Ashared, who was lying next to her, rose to a sitting position and the guard accompanying Amaruk did the same in response. Lannahi suddenly felt uncomfortable. Why had she allowed an overgrown wolf to sit next to her? And why didn’t her guards see this as a problem? Then she remembered that she hadn’t yet told them about what she’d heard yesterday, and shame overwhelmed her. How could she not have thought about it?
