Skonk’s jaw tightened. “You think the Priestess is behind it.”
“I think,” I said carefully, “that if she wanted to destabilize multiple factions without revealing herself, displacing an entire people would do it.”
Twobble grimaced. “That’s cold.”
“Yes,” I said. “She is.”
Twobble straightened. “Well. On the bright side?”
I looked at him. “There’s a bright side?”
“Sure,” he said. “If the orcs are marching because they have nowhere else to go, then they’re not coming to fight. They’re coming to survive.”
“That makes them desperate,” Skonk added. “Not malicious.”
I nodded slowly. “And desperate people can be reasoned with.”
Twobble pointed at me again. “See? Leadership.”
“Not to interrupt your fantasy, but in an orc's world, surviving and fighting…eh, they go hand in hand.”
I snorted despite myself. “Don’t start. Just let me have my fantasy for a bit.”
“Will do,” Skonk said with a nod.
The pieces were slowly aligning. I could start to see the shape of the problem now.
The Priestess wasn’t just gathering power.
She was creating pressure.
Displacing the orcs.
Stirring the clans.
Testing the Hollows. Forcing movement and reactions.
She wanted the world off-balance.
And suddenly, I knew exactly what I needed to do.
I straightened, feeling a familiar calm settle over me.
It was the kind that always came right before I did something that would make my life significantly more complicated.
“I need to talk to them,” I said.
Twobble blinked. “The orcs?”
“Yes.”
Skonk frowned. “That’s dangerous.”
“Everything is right now,” I replied. “But if they’re being pushed out of their homelands, they’re not our enemies. They’re victims.”
Twobble scratched his chin. “You’re thinking diplomacy.”
“I’m thinking acknowledgment,” I said. “And options.”
