Aric’s scar shifted as his mouth curved. He acquiesced, handing Harthon his goblet before making a point of taking a healthy swallow from the other.
No poison, then. A promising sign.
Aric settled into his chair with a dramatic sigh. No table between us, drinks in hand, seated by the fire as if we were old friends—it was a cozy scene, until you noticed the undercurrent of tension emanating from both men.
“How is your crop plague?” Aric asked.
“Under control,” Harthon answered.
“Until the next one.”
Harthon tilted his head. “That is the way of this world with the Domus.”
“In some Territories.”
Harthon swirled the liquid in his chalice. “And in others, crops are all there is to live on. All game is dead, and soldiers are left to grow strong on plants.”
“It may surprise you how strong men can be while consuming plants.”
“Perhaps,” Harthon said, like he wasn’t remotely convinced.
The two seemed so intent on beating their chests, I expected Aric to rise to that challenge, but he didn’t. Relaxing into his chair, he shared, “The game extinction was a result of my father. I’m handling the aftermath.”
“And how is that going?”
“As you can imagine.” He raised his goblet toward Harthon. “But I now have an ally who can offer assistance with this endeavor.”
That was no small request. Harthon might have small game in his Territory, but it was scarce, the Domus starving us more and more every day. As it was, he’d already resorted to limiting hunting areas around his city center, rotating them to giveanimal populations a chance to recover. We still didn’t know how successful the method was.
“I would need to see and agree to a thoroughly planned strategy before sharing a resource as valuable as that,” Harthon decided.
Some of the hostility choking the air eased, if only a little.
“It’s already prepared for your review. We can discuss it tonight. Right now, however, I would love to discuss the…situationwith Koerlyn. I heard it was quite the encounter.”
“As of right now, there is no situation,” Harthon supplied.
“So he’s dead?”
“We don’t have confirmation, but half of his face was sliced away. I’ve never seen a man survive that type of wound.”
“Ah,” Aric said, lifting a finger. “But Koerlyn is no man. He’s a fucking serpent, and serpents have a remarkable ability to regenerate.”
The foreboding reminder was unnecessary. Unless Koerlyn was among the skeletons on the wall, we didn’t know that he was, in fact, dead. And if he did manage to survive such a gruesome injury, the wrath with which he’d return…
You have enough to worry about.
Aric ran a thumb across his jaw. “I have to ask—why are you here instead of capitalizing on his weakness?”
“I’m trying to secure relations with your neighbor.”
“And why would that take priority over such a sparkling, golden opportunity?”
There was no good answer to this.
No doubt anticipating the question, Harthon said, “Princeps Theo’s main ally is weakened. He may be seeking an alternative in First. I’m going to beat him to it.”
Aric laughed, his deep chuckle filling the massive room as Harthon remained impassive. When he sobered, it was to say,“Neither of you should be seeking anything in First. Except death, perhaps, and you don’t strike me as mad.”
