“Which is his right to do.”
“He betrayed our people and his own blood brother,” Tenilor said. “Hehasno rights. Shi was about toexilehim.”
“Let me speak.” Vorik lifted his arms. “I have a plan for the future, one that will feed all of our people and let us end this war without losing more of our kin. When I’m done, if you decide it’s all nonsense and not worth listening to, I’ll stop arguing and go along with whatever the combined tribes decide is best.”
“The combined tribes want you toleave,” Tenilor said. “Or to die.”
“I want to hear his plan,” General Amalia said. She sounded weary, like she might not have slept since before the Bogberry Island invasion.
How many people had she lost there, Vorik wondered. Since he’d been gone, he didn’t know what the death tally had been, but Agrevlari’s description of the whirlpool in the lake suckingboats under had made it sound devastating. And he’d seen for himself what had happened in the mine, with the Kingdom soldiers not letting his people climb out after the flooding began.
“I do too,” Marvola said.
“Imagine that,” Tenilor grumbled at the chieftess. “You’ve got whatever bribe was in that jar staining your tunic.”
“I told you they’d all consider it a bribe,” Jhiton murmured.
“A promise of what the future can hold,” Vorik said, speaking loudly enough for everyone to hear.
Though he wore a sullen expression, Tenilor fell silent.
“When General Jhiton tasked me with seducing then-Princess Syla,” Vorik said, “he sought to learn the locations of the shielders, but I realized right away that Syla had the mettle needed to lead her people and would inevitably become the queen that her blood—and the gods—destined her to be. Unlike some of her predecessors, she’s not a warrior, nor was she trained as a diplomat, but, as a healer, she has heart and is willing to work to help all people, not only her own.”
Vorik hoped nobody present had yet figured out that flooding the mine had been Syla’s idea, or they would scoff. He hurried on so that they wouldn’t have time to think too much about his claims.
“I was a poor choice for the general’s mission, since I wasn’t able to wheedle much information out of her, but Ididmanage to charm her, just a bit.” He smiled and tried to look self-deprecating as he held up his thumb and index finger with little space between. “We’ve spoken together of a possible future that would benefit our people without disturbing hers further. She has suggested that she might be open to giving our tribes territory of our own within the Kingdom, on lands that currently are wild and belong only to the crown. Of course, we would have to promise to cease the war and that there would be no further hostilities from stormers. We would essentially have to be goodneighbors, but we wouldn’t be under Kingdom rule, and we could come and go as we pleased, enjoying the protection of the shields when we want it and hunting and foraging on the wild lands there. Our dragon allies wouldn’t be able to fly through the barriers, but we could construct floating docks anchored to the sea floor outside of them and kayak in and out to meet them whenever we wished to hunt together. And we could bring them offerings of the fine meats that we might acquire within the Kingdom. For those of you who’ve enjoyed the jams and nut spreads, I’m sure the gardeners could be enticed to share recipes or even trade their goods with our people.”
“Oh, well,” Tenilor said, “if they’re sharingrecipes, thenof coursewe’ll end the war.”
A few people snorted. Maybe it was only in Vorik’s imagination that others looked wistful. Marvoladidlook wistful. That wasn’t Vorik’s imagination. And, surprisingly, nobody had scoffed at the idea that he could charm a woman.
Jhiton was wearing his masked expression. Nothing wistful there.
“My point is,” Vorik said, “that this is an alternative to an eternal war that we probably won’t win. Also, I am in a position to help us negotiate for it.”
“Our latest intelligence,” General Amalia said, “is that a usurper has taken the throne and is claiming that Queen Syla is dead.”
“She’s not dead,” Vorik said. “She’s just been busy. She’ll easily get the throne back when she’s done dealing with, well,we’vebeen keeping her busy. But, as I said earlier, we’ve not done what we hoped to do. Since the initial invasion and destruction of most of the royal family, we’ve not had a victory. And we’ve had a lot of losses. Syla found that weapon made by the gods, and she may be blessed by the gods herself. If we continue on, we’ll have more losses. I’m offering what I think isa more appealing alternative than continued futility that would include more death and suffering. It’s also a more appealing alternative than continuing on with our status quo, only having what we can scrounge up in an increasingly harsh world.” Vorik waved in the direction of the underground lake to remind them of the kraken and cave crawlers.
“But is it your alternative to offer? Or hers?” Amalia didn’t sound belligerent and was asking the questions calmly. And they were fair questions. “If she doesn’t control the Kingdom…”
“She will,” Vorik said firmly. “She’s dealt with every threat so far, many far more onerous than ambitious human usurpers.” His next wave was toward the sea to indicate all their dragon allies. “Of course, if we want toensurethe throne will be controlled by someone sympathetic to stormers, we couldsupporther as she returns to reclaim it.”
That did elicit a number of scoffs, and not only from Tenilor. Vorik hadn’t truly expected anyone to leap onto that idea. A couple of faces, however, did continue to appear more wistful than adversarial at his ongoing suggestions.
Vorik looked at Jhiton and Amalia since they had a lot of sway with the chiefs. “Sheisthe only potential ruler who’s going to be sympathetic to us.”
“She’s sympathetic toyou,” Jhiton said.
“Yes, but I’m a stormer.” Vorik almost added that he was now a stormerchief, but he didn’t want to rub people’s hackles the wrong way, not when Shi had died as a result of his challenge. “Assuming nobody exiles me,” was what he finished with.
“I wouldn’t assume that,” Jhiton said.
“Have I said lately what a delight it is being your brother?”
“You forgot to mention it while driving your sword into my gut.”
Vorik winced but could hardly blame Jhiton for the words. It was a wonder that his brother was speaking with him at all. “That was inconsiderate of me.”
