“Yes. He seems quite eager to open the talks.” The general straightened. “He requests to meet immediately, if you are amiable.”
She wouldn’t have the chance to change or clean up after the long ride, but she could forgo those comforts easily enough. Right now, she was so restless that she’d rather just get this over with.
“Yes, I am.” Adeline would have straightened her shoulders, but her back already hurt from how straight and correct she was standing. “Send six of our men forward with a tent.”
“Very good, Your Majesty.” The general bowed before leaving the tent.
Adeline paced while she waited. It took several more back and forths before a tent was set up and furnished, ready for her and the Lalsacian king to meet.
Climbing onto her horse with her crown firmly set on her head, Adeline set out once again, surrounded by her guards and the contingent of lords. She tried not to look over her shoulder toward the rear of the column where Lorne and his men were being marched on foot by a squad of soldiers.
Soldiers opened a door set in the palisade, and then she was riding into the open valley that spread between the two warring armies. On the far saddleback crest, an identical palisade cut across the land, and a column of riders was coming toward her.
One hundred yards from the tent set in the center of the valley, Adeline halted and dismounted.
Instead of Lorne, it was the general who helped her down from her horse. “I don’t like that you will be so alone and vulnerable, Your Majesty.”
“The king and I agreed to take only three personal guards each.” Adeline wouldn’t mention that shewould feel safer with only her three most trusted guards at her side. “I will feel more secure with you here where you’ll be able to see any larger attack brewing.”
She didn’t think there would be one. Lorne had hinted how eager the Lalsacian king was for peace. After all, Lalsacia hadn’t been the one to start the war. Kelverny had. Lalsacia hadn’t killed Adeline’s parents. A Kelvernese traitor or her grandfather had. Lalsacia had reached forward the hand of peace first by sending Lorne and his envoys, and it had been Kelverny that had rebuffed the attempts.
Hopefully it wasn’t too late for Kelverny to make amends and negotiate peace after all her grandfather had made the kingdom do.
“Our hopes rest on you, Your Majesty.” Lord Pellier approached her.
Adeline extended her hand and, when he bowed over it, she found the strength for a small smile. “Thank you for your loyalty, Lord Pellier.”
He was one of the few lords who she had trusted enough to witness her wedding to Lorne. Yet he wasn’t questioning her, now that Lorne had been relegated back to the status of prisoner instead of entering this meeting at her side as she’d originally envisioned.
“It is my pleasure, Your Majesty.” Lord Pellier held his bow for another moment before he straightened and backed away.
Lord Delaney and Lord Harding also bowed over her hand.
Then Lord Sarlon took her hand, squeezing hardenough that it hurt. “You should not go into this meeting alone, Your Majesty. You should take one of us at your side.”
Adeline resisted the urge to yank her hand out of his crushing grip. “The king of Lalsacia is also entering this meeting without his nobles at his side. It is not an insult to my dignity or that of Kelverny.”
Nor would she have taken Lord Sarlon with her, regardless of how much he wanted to wield that influence and power.
Lord Sarlon finally let go of her hand, and it took everything in her not to shake out her fingers, glance at them, or otherwise give away how much his tight grip had unsettled her.
Across the way, the Lalsacian king was already making his way toward the tent, only three guards around him as agreed. The rest of his party waited a hundred yards away from the tent, just as hers did.
Adeline motioned for her personal guards. Once they fell in around her, she strode forward, heading across the grassy field toward the Lalsacian king.
As they neared each other, she took him in as best she could without appearing to stare. He had a narrow face, his skin the shade or two darker in tone than the paler Kelvernese. His black hair was threaded with gray at the temples while his crown rested against it with a regal air that she could only hope she somewhat matched.
There was something about him that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. It wasn’t like she’d ever met him before, and yet he seemed familiar.
The two of them halted beside the tent, facing each other.
King Philip of Lalsacia gave her a bow that consisted more of his head and shoulders than his waist. “Your Majesty.”
That was a respectful gesture on his part, acknowledging her first. As the elder royal and the king of the kingdom that had been the most wronged, he’d had every right to stand on his dignity and demand that she bow first.
Adeline gave a returning dip of her head and shoulders, including a slight bob of her knees as well to add an extra level of respect. “Your Majesty.”
“Shall we?” The king gestured to the tent.
