"If you know all there is to know about them, then, please. Be my guest,” Nyssa continued. “You must know so much more than I do since you can see their settlement from the home place. Tell me the weapons they have at their castle."
Soli gawked at her.
Rage surged through Nyssa's bones, and she couldn't stop herself.
"Tell me what they call their guards. Tell me their battle plans and how many men they have in every legion. Tell me the names of their royal family and how they take their tea. Tell me which of their Generals has a family to lose and which ones would give up their duty if it meant freedom from beneath their oppressor's thumb. Tell me the problems they are facing as a new settlement and how we can help come to a peaceful standing without losing lives on both sides, at least for the time being."
Soli's gaze fluttered, her jaw twisting, and people in the room stared between them.
Nyssa felt her head tilt in Soli's direction. "I am waiting."
"You cannot possibly know all—“
"I knoweverything," Nyssa seethed. "And I did not just endure nearly eight weeks of slavery, starvation, and torture to come back here and be questioned as though I am some sort oftraitor. Would you like to see the scars on my back?" she dared. "Would you like to see how my fucking mark is now barely recognizable due to the lashings I received? Would you like to know the size of the man's cock they thrust in my face before I said enough and escaped that place? Or perhaps you'd like to see how they burned my shoulders because they thought my freckles adisease?!"
She swore she saw tears in Soli's eyes. But they were gone in a blink, and Soli cleared her throat. "No one asked you to do what you did, girl."
Ash rose on Nyssa's fingertips. She stretched her fingers and took a deep breath.
"If I hadn't, your home would already be up in flames," she said, her voice steady as she fought her rising fire. "Do you want to know why?"
Soli didn't respond.
"Ask her," Nadir commanded.
Soli’s eyes cut crudely at Nadir, but she huffed and looked back to Nyssa. "Why?"
"Because had I not been there, your fucking Commander would have never walked across the damn Preymoor to trade goods with them until it was too late. They would have sent out patrols to look for food and settlements to raid because they are starving for anything other than poorly processed meats. Your home would be theirs. And Haerland would already be under their control." Nyssa paused to let it sink in their heads, chin lifting as she glared at the ones opposing her. "He and I are the only reason any of you are still breathing." She snapped back to Soli. "And if you ever call me 'girl' again, I'll snap your neck like I did my captor's."
"Are you threatening me again?" Soli asked.
"It's a fucking promise," Nyssa snapped.
Lex was holding her hand over her mouth, staring at the ground, when Nyssa finally sat down in the chair. She settled back, legs crossing.
"Any push at them cannot come from just this village," Nyssa continued. "Until we have a whole united army, we must ask for peace with them. Not surrender or slavery, but peace. They are starving for fresh fruits and vegetables that you all can give them. We have to ask for a trading treaty. We can build our forces as we wait, but if you want to see another winter here, this is what we have to do."
People exchanged glances, and Nadir squeezed her knee. He met her eyes, throat bobbing, and then he looked back to his people.
"Updates on our crops. Go," he asked them.
As each of the farmers and merchants stood to talk about their goods, Nadir leaned forward in his chair, his voice so low when he spoke in Nyssa's ear that she hardly heard him.
"Do you have any idea how sexy hearing you talk like that was?" he breathed.
Nyssa clenched her teeth to keep from smiling, heat threatening her neck. She thought that might be the end of it, but he leaned forward again.
"If there weren't other people in this room, you might really have to break my heart again to keep me from you."
Confidence swirling through her body, Nyssa glanced sideways, and then she brought her cup to her lips. "Commander, if one threatening speech from me has you itching out of your bones, this is going to be a long...hard... war."
He inhaled sharply, muttering, "Fucking Infi, Princess," and one glance over to him, and she could tell it was taking everything in him not to touch her. Dilation in his gaze, his eyes wandered over her once, and then he leaned back in his chair again, hand resting on the back of hers.
Just moments after the exchange, he stood again to wrap up and asked them to continue their plan from the previous meeting, with increased production of their goods. And as the session ended, Nadir parted ways with them to make his rounds.
Nyssa itched to stand, a deep breath finally evacuating her and her heart swelling with the execution of a job well done. Lex smiled and leaned against the table with her.
"Good show, Princess," she muttered as she drank her wine.
