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“Hah, you really hate him, don’t you?”
“I am not fond of a single aspect of his personhood, no.”
“Right, well, don’t piss him off too much. I’ll see you later?”
“You most certainly will.”
With that, she leaned over the desk and pressed a kiss to my cheek. I didn’t expect that, but it was most welcome.
I felt tempted to walk her to her shift, but I knew she’d object, so I just let her go. Draining the rest of the mead, I headed outside to bug my uncle.
I’m not going to say I took joy in kicking down the door to Oren’s bedroom again, but I didn’t hate it. This time my uncle didn’t jolt awake, which was a disappointment, but he did let out an undignified shout from where he was sitting at Oren’s desk, leafing through some papers.
Was he being productive? That seemed pretty out of character.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” he cried when I strode in.
“That’s a long list involving childhood trauma and the need to prove myself as useful beyond my family,” I said flippantly, crossing my arms once I was at a comfortable distance from him. “But that’s not what I came here to discuss.”
“Oh, and do you start all of your conversations by violently bursting into a room?”
“Just all the good ones.” Was I being needlessly antagonistic? Yes. Did my uncle deserve it? Also, yes. Was I going to feel bad about it? Absolutely not. “In any case, have you gotten any response from my parents concerning my terms?”
Funny, terms made it sound like a surrender, which I supposed it was. My captaincy had always been a rebellion against everything they expected of me, against the rigid and crushing things they expected of me that so often went against my ethical code. Going back to the capital was something I never wanted to do, and yet I had to if I wanted to save the people I loved.
“There were plenty of other ways you could ask,” my uncle groused before tossing me an opened envelope. I was surprised to see a letter with my father’s watermark embossed onto the paper.
“Holy shit,” I murmured, surprised everything had gone so smoothly. I’d expected a few back and forths and compromises but, no, right in front of my eyes was an agreement to send an express convoy of military persons exactly as I’d requested. They were also sending more supplies to the fort immediately, from general to medical, and even to construction, so no administrative orders could slow my return to Merrik.
The downside, because of course there was one, was they wanted me back in Merrik no later than in four days.
That was so soon.
I looked up from the letter, not quite sure what to say, and naturally my uncle took the opportunity to lecture me.
“I know you love to weasel your way out of things, but if you delay your return for any reason, there will be an escort sent who’ll be much less gracious about your removal from here.”
“I’ve never broken a deal in my life,” I said levelly. If I resisted, they’d reveal my identity to everyone in the fort, and likely Canid would experience a lot of sudden and unfortunate mishaps that had nothing to do with Ayla’s curse.
Part of me was still surprised King Nathaniel and Queen Brielle had simply agreed, though. Surely there had to be some trick, unless my mother was just that desperate to have me back. I supposed it was possible, but it seemed so strange. I hadn’t talked to the woman in person in five years and hadn’t written her in two. Most days I never even thought about her, as she represented the life I’d worked incredibly hard to escape.
“However, I’m not comfortable leaving before the new captain gets here. I need to bring him up to speed.”
“That’s an unrealistic request. It’s a three-day drive back to the capital, so you have one day to write out your instructions. Even if your parents were able to send out the supplies the day they wrote this missive, your reinforcements wouldn’t arrive until two days from now, which doesn’t allow you enough timeto get to the capital. It’ll likely take them several days to find the appropriate replacement, so it’ll take them a week or more to get here.” I could tell my uncle was disgruntled as he continued prattling on. “You know it’s too dangerous here at the borderlands for any quicker transport than armored vehicle.”
“You know, some say it’s faster to travel on shifted foot here,” I remarked nonchalantly. Just like I expected, my uncle turned a deep purple.
“Onfoot?What heathen would ever try to travel from Merrik to this gods’ forsaken place? They’d have to be mad.”
I decided not to go into detail about how I’d spent over a week traveling toward therealborderlands, then enemy territory, and then came all the way back.
“It’s possible, Uncle, but in any case, you weren’t going to give me the letter until tomorrow, right? Is there any way my parents would know you delivered it already?”
“Are you suggesting I try to obscure the timeline in receiving this missive to the king and queen of our nation?” Graham hissed. “I understand you like to play fast and loose with your standing, but I havenodesire to get in hot water with your father. I have worked hard to build everything I hold dear, and I’ll not have it ruined by your impulsive desire to make everything so much more difficult than it has to be.”
The idea of my uncle working hard at anything was laughable, unless he meant his backstabbing ways, but I didn’t consider challenging him worthwhile in the least.
“I’m not saying you lie to them. I’m just saying you return to the capital and tell them I have agreed to their terms, and I will leave within four days of reinforcements arriving.”
