Under Vylkor’s increasingly worried gaze–but, thankfully, silent one; the attack had mellowed his lack of faith in my abilities or had made him more wary of my power–I tamped down the stray hairs around my forehead like I tamped down my nerves.
Whispers resounded from behind the door, too low to make out. But they slowly morphed from curious to annoyed.
Then, and only then, did I nod at Dax. We squared our shoulders, sharp grins frozen on our faces, and finally entered, like the true Vegheara family they wanted to tear down.
Three palaver portals rose from three equally faded journal pages. So the one Ryker had given me for the wedding hadn’t been a slight. It was this crater’s normal.
This also meant the three Northern leaders weren’t in the same room.
Good. We could use that.
Every single detail could become an advantage if we used it correctly. Whatever my eyes missed, Dax’s would pick up with his honed skills.
“Huntress.” The oldest of them smiled, his perfectly white beard emphasizing those perfect teeth. But his dark eyes narrowed, calculating. That must have been Beren Greycrest, the Ashrift leader. “We were worried you were about to postpone our little gathering.”
I heard the venom beyond the smile. Five minutes of waiting had pricked his pride. Useful information.
To his left rose the palaver of a man swaddled in velvet and faded jewels, looking at me as if he’d stepped in something foul. Edrin Malrow, the greediest of them all, who’d led the Dustmarks straight into abject poverty.
On the right, a man draped in pristine dark leather that had never seen a battle gazed down his nose, trying to appear regal, and ending up conceited. Lioran Tideborne, the one so in love with his ancestry that he looked like he’d just stumbled off a pirate ship.
“Beren,” I said and stopped in front of the palavers, tall and hopefully unbothered. “I was wondering when you’d finally face me.”
Edrin’s already sour face soured further, his grimace exposing the tips of his decaying teeth. “Big words for a Clanless woman.”
That remark smarted more than I would ever let them see. “On the contrary. I hear many Clans are fighting over me.”
“You alive and you dead are very different things,” he sneered.
So they knew someone wanted me dead. If there had been any doubts the Northern Clans were involved with whoever Orion and Silas were working with, Edrin had fully dispelled them.
Dax shifted behind me softly. He’d caught it, too.
Now we knew which footing we were negotiating from.
“Let us not talk about death,” Beren intervened, none of his cheerful demeanor dented. “Let me be the first to welcome you into the family. A shame we didn’t get a chance to greet you properly.”
“Yes, I’m sure you’re all very excited to meet face to face,” I said. “I don’t think that will happen soon, sadly.”
“You and my nephew are so alike.” He chuckled. “You’re living in one of the richest lands in all of Malhaven. Be more optimistic.”
“Perhaps I will.” I smiled back. “Once you stop attacking it.”
Powerful.
Unbothered.
The dark glint in Beren’s eyes sharpened.
To his side, Lioran cleared his throat. “You have no evidence.”
“The two hundred soldiers resting underneath the ice, clad in your Northern uniforms would beg to differ,” I said.
“Deserters. Insurgents.” Lioran waved a bored hand. “They acted on their own.”
My eyes narrowed.
They had the numbers, the weapons, the higher ground.
