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I gestured for him to sit across from me.
“No time for preamble,” I stated.
“It is an odd mix of letters,” he said, his tone contemplative as he crossed his legs. “Almost as if different people had written them.”
As I opened up the folder, the letters spilled onto the table with a soft rustling sound. Each letter, varying in age, displayed distinct stages of yellowing. Some were mere cream, while others had aged to a rich parchment yellow.
"It's fascinating how the tone changes," he mused, reaching for the one nearest to him and parting it down the middle. “At first, it’s a request. Almanera, on behalf of the border people, asks for an audience with you and your council. Since he doesn’t clearly state his purpose, the request is denied.”
Cam turned the paper toward me and tapped on the red stamp with anx.
“The council wrote back denying Almanera’s application for an audience, with a note to reach out to his local ambassador.”
“When did he write his first letter?” I queried, taking in the curved scrawl.
“Ten years ago.”
“And when did we receive the next letter?”
Cam rifled through the pile, his lean fingers deftly flipping over each one until he found what he was looking for.
“Exactly one year later,” he said. “The contents are similar, except this time, the tone is a little more urgent. He implies that there is something brewing in the borders that requires your attention. To this, the council replies asking what exactly requires the direct attention of the king, but his reply statesa matter of border security.”
Cam handed me the next letter, which held a scribbled note from the council. An ambassador had been sent out to deal with the matter, and the issue had been subsequently closed.
“I assume we received another letter the following year?”
Cam nodded. “And the next. All the way up to this year.”
I observed my assistant as he sat up straight in his chair, his cheeks taking on a subtle rosy hue that betrayed his growing interest. There was something intriguing in the way his eyes sparkled with curiosity, like a fire slowly kindling in the depths of his stomach.
“You’re almost flushed with glee, Cam,” I noted, unsure if that was a good thing. My assistant was an odd duck. “Tell me what you’ve found before you burst.”
Cam leaned forward, pulling a letter out of the pile.
“It seems that Almanera wrote to us this year insinuating that Vetri sentinels were taking over Agnivale land along the borders.”
A frown touched my brow as I flattened the letter onto the desk.
“Insinuate how? You don’t seem very concerned about such a serious accusation,” I said, noting the flush still on Cam’s cheeks.
“Because I’m not,” he stated. “I’m fairly certain that Almanera sought to get a rise out of us. It was a scare tactic.”
“But I never heard of this letter.”
“Therein lay his frustration,” Cam explained. “No matter what he wrote in those letters, he was never able to get through to you. He never got your attention.”
“But that isn’t what’s making you so gleeful.”
“No.” Cam sat forward. “I made a call on the way back here. An Alpha named Haladay is in charge of the borderlands on Vetri’s side. Guess what he said.”
I sat back in the chair, eyeing my assistant. “The Vetri council received a similar letter.”
“Yes!” Cam flicked his fingers in the air. “That’s exactly right. The Vetri council received a letter saying that Agnivale’s sentinels were over-stepping border limits.”
“That is a dangerous game for a small-town leader to play.”
“I think he was desperate. Desperate and foolish,” Cam remarked. “But unfortunately, even that lie didn’t get him the audience he wanted.”
