She and Bertie ride toward a giant tent in the sea of gawking warriors. All who caught a glimpse of their Queen bow respectively.
“I thought Timber hated you?” Bertie asks as another group sweeps into a low bow.
“Thanks, cousin.” She spits sarcastically.
“No,” he shakes his head, “I mean, I thought everyone was cruel to you.”
“Only the nobles and the entirety of the Manchineel family hold such disdain.” And the Manchineels are cross for their centuries-old grudge against her Redwood bloodline.
Seeing her people look up at her with reverence stirs something in the pit of her stomach—a familiar urge to protect and serve those without a voice.
She dismounts before the enormous general’s tent and barely takes another step when a bear shaped like a man accosts her from behind.
“Oh, my Queen!” A booming voice vibrates her bones as the colossal man with black, thick hair wraps his arms around her.
“General Tyo, it has been too long.” She strains as she fights against his strangling grasp.
He ushers her inside the tent, where nothing but smiles from her Timber generals greet Queen Avina. And one suspicious glower from Kar.
He has been consistently on edge after Grim rode east to deliver her order to Timber. He fears the wooded province will take Salt’s weakness as an opportunity to strike against them.
“We were thrilled to receive your letter and know you are alive, Your Majesty.” General Elsrith stands the shortest among them with braided pink hair.
“Thank you all for your prompt response. I apologize for being away.” Avina nibbles her bottom lip to keep from speaking.
What else is she to tell the Timber generals of her absence? How can she justify her relationship with the man who has cost the lives of hundreds of good Timber soldiers?
“Hey, everyone! I'm terribly sorry I was gone for weeks. I fell in love with and embarked on a journey of sexual discovery with my enemy. I hope my orders still count, considering Salt seed defiled my womanhood.”
“We had word that the Salt Prince took you captive.” One of the older generals–whose name escapes her–questions with a side glance at Kar.
Avina cannot help herself. “What did you hear about my disappearance?”
Tyo flops comfortably into a chair large enough for three men. “Interest in the enemy Commander, bribing guards, dumping excessive gold,” he waves his hands dismissively as if her behavior were normal, perhaps even expected, “the usual spiraling out after a successful war. No judgment. I bribed seventeen guards after my first battle. They caught me urinating at a brewery in a vat of freshly made ale.”
Avina cringes; the image is far too vivid.
“Anyway, you had barely been missing for a week when Samson sent that shithead Ives to bring you back. He suspected you may have fled.” Elsrith hisses, having no loveloss for Samson.
Fled? Quite an assumption for the Duke to have made when Sigvid openly dragged me from the Arena naked.
“We knew you would never have abandoned Timber.” Elsrith smiles softly. “When we got news of your engagement to Thrain, we did think something was amiss.”
“Elsrith and I gathered men and were prepared to liberate you from the Salt brothers, who were forcing you to share their beds. However, the Council of all things forced our hands. They said to let the marriage go as planned.” Tyo strokes his beard with a snarl.
Of course, they did. Father manipulated them all along against me, using Sigvid to dispose of Rendel and marry me off to Thrain.
It all made her head spin.
“My letter must have confirmed your suspicions.” Avina steps around them to view the war table, a map of the Holy Triangle already drawn up as requested. They remained a few day's rides from the center of Treland, but strategizing can begin now.
“We are here, aren’t we?” Tyo grumps with the hint of a smile.
“I cannot express my relief at your presence.” She places a hand on either end of the map and then meets each of their gazes. “I suppose I should tell you how we arrived at this point…”
Everyone sits around the war table while she regales them with the story of the Arena, Thrain’s transgressions, the gods, and the stones.
“He fell in love with you. After everything.” Elsrith's swoons have Avina blushing.
