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“She is a fine warrior,” he answered. Above him, Sigil’s furious expression melted. “Who leads with her heart and sees the world for what it is. Wide, dangerous, and filled with opportunity.”
“Are we fools?” Sorasa asked.
Salbhai sighed and shook his head, hopelessly trapped.
“No, you are not,” he mumbled. “But I cannot believe—I cannot repeat what you said to the Emperor without proof.”
The answer was sharply clear.
Sorasa gave a shrug, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Sigil will go herself.”
Black eyes met copper, bounty hunter and Amhara.
“Sorasa,” Sigil forced through gritted teeth.
Like her, Sorasa rose from her seat. Between Dom and Sigil, she was of no great height, too small to be of much consequence. Her presence filled the deck anyway, her voice low and stern. She stared up at the bounty hunter, unblinking, challenging the other woman. It felt like running into a brick wall. Sorasa did it anyway.
“The Emperor must be made to understand what you have seen,” she said. “What you know to be true, and what you know will happen if the Temurijon does not fight.”
Sigil furrowed her brow in confusion, a pained look crossing her face.
“You want me to run away?” she sputtered. “Dom, tell her she’s being foolish.”
The Elder held his ground. Sorasa felt his stare hit her shoulder but she could not turn around. If she moved, she might break.
“I will not,” he murmured.
She loosed a low breath of relief, even as Sigil darkened, her pain turning to anger.
Sorasa felt the same in her own heart, as much as she tried to ignore it.Put the pain away, she told herself.
The ambassador stood with a small smile, his brighter mood a sharp contrast.
“Very well,” he said. “We will sail for Trisad. Bhur is already on his way from Korbij, with the Countless in tow.”
In her head, Sorasa saw the moving city that was the Countless, a vast cavalry to outnumber even the Gallish legions. Where the Countless marched, it left a miles-wide path in its wake, carving roads across the steppe. She could hardly fathom the sight if the Emperor marched with them, the entire realm trembling beneath the hooves of his horse.
“The Emperor is already moving?” Sorasa said, incredulous.
Ambassador Salbhai nodded.
“He received correspondence some weeks ago,” he said, his smile turning smug. “One from the now-dead King of Madrence, calling for aid. A desperate measure indeed.”
He shook his head, lamenting the fate of King Robart.
Sorasa had heard enough of it in the dungeons, through the gossip of her torturers and jailers. Robart threw himself into the sea during Erida’s coronation. Sorasa could not help but commend him for such an insult.
“If war was coming to the realm, he did not want to be a thousand miles away, caught unawares. And there was another letter from Prince Oscovko of Trec. Impossible asthatsounds,” Salbhai added.
Quickly, Sorasa traded glances with Dom and Sigil, all three of them wise enough to hold their tongues.I venture the seal on that letter is just off,the signature of Prince Oscovko not quite right, she thought with an invisible smile.
“The priest did something right,” Sigil muttered under her breath.
Salbhai paid her no attention, carrying on. “Enemies though we are, Oscovko implored Bhur to fight. The prince spoke of Erida’s attempt to conquer the realm, both with her legions and... something worse.”
A shadow crossed his face, one Sorasa and the others understood all too well.
