The Idrixian sat forward, intrigued. “A member of the Armature?” His gaze turned scrutinizing before humor flashed. “Perhaps I expected more.”
Quentin ground his teeth again.
The Idrixian swung his attention to him. “And you? Another Armature, or just an under-fed guard dog?”
This fucker.
Before he could retort with something extremely regrettable, Delaynie curled her soft fingers around his arm.
“Quentinisanother of the Queen’s Armature,” she said, her voice cool. “And I’m Delaynie, another of the Queen’s Ladies. While we wish to explore diplomacy with you and Idrix, we also don’t appreciate the disrespect. We speak with the authority of our queen; whatever attitude you would show to her is what we expect for us.”
The tent fell into tense silence. The Idrixian raised a dark brow. Quentin held his breath, eyes darting between the seated man and his baldric lying in the weapon’s pile at his feet.
Could he get there fast enough? Before the other guards in the room could react?
The corner of the Idrixian’s mouth kicked up in a grin.
“I like you,” he said. “You speak direct and true. I appreciate that.” He stood, crossing his arms behind his back. “I am Sunil, Captain of the Tumala Tribe Rangers. I also speak with the authority of myneta.”
What?Quentin shared a confused glance with his companions.
Sunil frowned and sighed. “The leader of our tribe,” he said, “is ourneta. We in Idrix do not follow a singular king or queen like you do in Onita or in Vatha.” His lip curled. “In fact, it is the very reason we rebelled against the Vathan king over onethousand years ago. We now live as a free people organized into independent tribes and enjoy a much more peaceful and simpler existence.”
That explained the tents.
Delaynie took a small step forward, hands folding together. Quentin straightened his spine. “Then it is an honor to meet you, Sunil.” She dipped her head, the picture of courtly grace.
Sunil, though, only snorted. “Please, don’t get all proper on me now. Where’s that fire, Lady?” His mossy eyes glinted. “You still haven’t explained why Queen Ryenne suddenly wants to reopen the borders. What has changed from the prior centuries?”
Quentin blinked.Ryenne?
The realization struck him like a brick. Much of Onita still didn’t know they had a new queen. How would a neighboring kingdom, one who hadn’t had direct contact with Onita in over three hundred years, know that either?
He shared a wide-eyed glance with Sebastian. How were they going to explain this?
“Queen Ryenne is dead.”
Quentin swallowed. Like that, he supposed.
Sunil narrowed his eyes on Delaynie, who only held her head proudly.
“Ryenne is dead?”
Delaynie nodded solemnly. “Yes. Onita has a new queen. We serve Mariah Salis, Eleventh Queen of Onita. She is fully ascended, crowned, and carries all the authority to treat with the people of Idrix.”
Sunil rocked back on his heels, tapping a finger against his arm. Something passed across his expression, an unreadable look that made the hair on the back of Quentin’s neck stand on end.
“Interesting,” he finally said. “What is it, exactly, that this new queen hopes to gain from Idrix?” He glanced down at the pile of weapons at his feet, then at both Quentin and Sebastian. “Expanding her territory, perhaps? Maybe she sent you four here to learn more about Idrix and its defenses. Maybe if I let you go, I’ll have an Onitan army marching on my tribe by the next cycle of the moons.”
“You have to bedelusionalif you think Mariah would want anything to do with these ass-stenched swamps,” Quentin snarled through his teeth. His fingers twitched, really missing the weight of his baldric across his chest. Sebastian hissed something at him, but he wasn’t listening.
What he wouldn’t give to slice into this fucker right here?—
Sunil took a step closer to Quentin. His yellow-green cloak, made in the same colors as the marshes, swirled around his feet. He surveyed Quentin’s face before giving him a wide grin.
“Even more interesting,” Sunil said, “that you speak of your queen so informally.”
“We all do, Sunil,” Delaynie interjected sharply. Sunil turned to face her with a lifted brow. “Mariah doesn’t think herself superior to her court. We obey when we must, but we work together.”
