Page 8 of The Turncoat King
Ava held still in her saddle, her gaze steady.
“What does this say?” The general had not plaited her hair, unlike most of the soldiers around her, although she had gathered it at the top of her head, and the wind blew it in long, silky strands of black and silver behind her, like a banner.
Ava took the proffered roll of parchment and opened it.
She took her time reading it, wanting to make sure she understood.
She had always spoken Skäddar better than she had read it.
“Well?” The general's impatience was communicated only by her horse, which danced beneath her.
“It says you are rude.” She lifted her gaze from the missive and shrugged.
The general made a sound at the back of her throat. “That is not all it says.”
Ava shook her head. “It says you asked them to spy on the Jatan and to let you know what the Jatan decided to do after the Kassian attack on their border. Then you left to join the Rising Wave without waiting for their leaders to discuss your request and the offer that accompanied it. This has forced them to send one of their best warriors down through Venyatux territory with a message on their decision.”
The general slid a look at the Skäddar warrior and then turned back to her, her face neutral.
“It says they will do as you ask if you agree to not only grant Skäddar special trade status, but create a trade treaty that includes Grimwalt, so all three northern lands have preferential trade agreements.” Ava couldn't help the lift of her eyebrows.
Her parents had been trade emissaries for Grimwalt. Since their murder at Kassia's hands, she had no idea who had taken their place, but she knew for sure the general did not have the authority to speak on Grimwalt's behalf.
Grimwalt had never bowed to any country—although they did have a special relationship with Venyatu. They may even agree to a request from Venyatu for a three-way trade treaty with Skäddar. But that wasn't something the general could promise.
“That's all?” the general asked.
She nodded.
“How do they end the missive? Who signed it?”
She looked down again. “We await your response. The Skäddar Collective.”
The general made the sound at the back of her throat again. Then she lifted a hand and beckoned the warrior over.
The wiry, muscular man moved his mountain pony over slowly, in no rush to obey.
Ava kept her gaze on his face and he shot her an exasperated look.
“Ask him if he can stay one more day and travel with us.”
Ava didn't realize the general was speaking to her for a moment, then remembered why she was here.
She repeated the request in Skäddar and the warrior's lips thinned.
“Why?”
Before she could translate, the general moved in even closer, and lowered her voice. “Tell him we will join with the Rising Wave tomorrow. Two of our scouts have already encountered the rear units and they are going to stop moving and wait for us to join them. Tell him it would be good for the Commander of the Rising Wave to have an opportunity to send a letter to his leaders as well.”
Ava hadn't known they were so close.
Her heart leaped in her chest and she forced her gaze to her hands to hide her reaction. She repeated the request, and the warrior looked at her suspiciously.
“Is this true?”
“It is the first time I've heard we are so close, but I am but a lowly soldier, I hold no rank, so I wouldn't have been told.” She narrowed her eyes as she looked at his cheeks. “Is it the sky and the grass, meeting on the mountains?”
His mouth dropped open. The silence stretched out.
