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My heart sank. This wasn’t a good sign at all.
“Jorgen,” Magnus said in a soothing tone, “surely you want to be a good guest and take advantage of the hard work Sebald and Avenel have done to make you comfortable.”
I wasn’t sure, but I thought maybe Magnus was trying to point out that a fellow wolf had made those preparations, not Hedeon people.
Jorgen laughed, his expression less serious. “We have an entire camp already set up in the forest, just outside the south gate,” he said with a smile. “Trust me, we have all the comforts of home right there.”
I frowned. How did Jorgen and his people get to the south side of the river when they’d come from the north? And what were they doing in the forest? Had Jorgen thought to waylay Magnus before he got to Hedeon to, what, plot behind Sai’s back before real negotiations started? To do Magnus some sort of harm?
Whatever the case, I didn’t trust Jorgen as far as I could throw him.
“If you wish to stay in your own accommodations, I can give my gate guards instructions to allow your people in and out of the city at your leisure,” Sai said. I could tell he wasn’t happy about it, though.
“I accept,” Jorgen said with a smile, as if he were being magnanimous. “Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go back to my camp to inform the others of how we will proceed. Do you have an agenda for these meetings we’re about to have?” he asked Sai with a pointed look.
Whether Sai did or not—I couldn’t tell for sure—he nodded and said, “I thought we could get started this afternoon, after lunch. That way, everyone can get settled where they will be staying, and we can all gather our thoughts as to what we would like to speak about first.”
In other words, Sai had to go back to the drawing board to figure out how to conduct intense political negotiations in a way that wouldn’t offend three-quarters of the people in attendance.
“That sounds like an excellent plan,” Magnus said, clapping his hands together with a smile. “Sebald, I trust you would like to lead the way and show us these excellent cottages you have prepared?”
“Yes, of course,” Sebald said, hurrying around the table so that he could take the lead.
I glanced to Genny, nudging him to stand so that we could get up.
“I’m glad we’ll be staying in a cottage,” I told him in a quiet voice. “This morning has been a lot, and honestly, I just want to go somewhere quiet and hold you for a while.”
It was a stupidly sweet sentiment on my part, but I meant it seriously, and Genny knew it. He gave me a look as we stepped over the bench to follow Sebald, along with everyone else, that said we were in for so much more in the next few days than we thought we’d be in for.
