Page 132 of Shadow Queen
She raised a brow. “That wasn’t condescending at all.”
He sighed. “I’m sorry.” Then he offered her his arm, and they walked toward the castle. “Gregor only sends a quarter of his due trade,” he told her. “He says he’s suffered a failed crop, and it’s all he can part with.”
Norah pursed her lips as a weight sunk in her stomach. “Do you believe him?”
Mikael shook his head. “No. Our own crops have fared well. Japheth has some of the most fertile lands in the world, and I’ve not heard of any news of pests or disease. And the herbs he doesn’t send—they’re medicinal ones, those that can be found only in the Colored Valley. They’re the most valuable to us.”
“So you think he does this intentionally?”
Mikael stopped. “I don’t know what to think. If it’s intentional, it confirms what I feared. He’s built an alliance with another.” The line of his jaw rippled as he looked back at the wagons. “We have shipments of rice and grain to be sent within a few weeks’ time. If I send them, it’s a statement that I accept his excuse. If I don’t, I essentially call him a liar and force his next move.”
“What will you do?”
He shook his head. “I haven’t decided.”
Quiet filled the room as they ate their evening meal. Since returning from Mercia, Soren had resumed eating with them, and even Salara-Mae had taken to joining. But the king’s mother still made no attempt to hide her disdain for the lord commander.
Cusco and Cavaatsa lay at Norah’s feet, and she shuffled her toes under Cusco’s warm belly. She watched Mikael as he sat without eating, only drinking from his chalice. Japheth and the trade dilemma were still heavy on his mind.
Salara-Mae dropped a small chunk of meat to the ground for Cusco, and the large dog swallowed it without chewing. Soren looked at her in surprise, but she avoided his eyes. “The beasts have become quite tolerable,” she said to Norah, “now that you’ve been seeing to them.”
Norah smiled but swallowed it back when Soren turned his offended eyes to her. She’d done nothing different with the dogs, other than allow them some additional poor behaviors. She shrugged at Soren apologetically. He set his attention back on his meal, and Norah’s lips curved upward again. But her amusement was short-lived. Mikael smoothed his short-cut beard on his chin, gazing out the side windows, and it drew her thoughts back to his worry.
“You haven’t gone hunting in a while,” Norah said, pulling his attention back to the present.
He drew in a long breath and let it out as he set his chalice on the table. Then he nodded. “That’s a good idea. I think I’ll go tomorrow.”
“Will you take Adrian?” she asked. Not surprisingly, neither Mikael nor the commander balked at the idea. Adrian was doing well in Kharav. He was smart, learned quickly, and could handle his own on the field. He was already growing on them, and—she smiled—they didn’t even realize it.
“Have you decided what you’ll do about King Gregor?” she asked, and Soren sat back in his chair, also curious.
Mikael’s eyes met hers, but he didn’t answer.
“Send me to collect the rest of the trade,” Soren told him.
Send him to intimidate himwas more like it. “That’s the opposite of what you should do,” Norah said, drawing an annoyed look from the commander. “You should talk to him.”
“You would have me call him out as a liar?” Mikael said.
“I’d have you talk to him like a rational human being—I think it’s okay if he knows that you’re unhappy with this situation, that it raises suspicion. But I wouldn’t so boldly threaten him.”
Soren snorted, “Likeyoudid when he was here last?”
She pursed her lips at him. “Let me remind you that was to saveyourskin, which I assumed was more important than a partial shipment of herbs.” Her eyes narrowed. “I do wonder if it was the right decision sometimes.” She looked back to Mikael. “Either talk to him or send your shipment due.”
“He tests me,” Mikael said.
“You should be sure that Gregor’s leaning away from his alliance with you before you act. Buy yourself some time to discover more, or time to prepare if thereisto be a confrontation.”
“He’ll think me weak.”
“Which is why you should send me,” Soren insisted.
Norah disagreed. “You should respond in a way that shows less paranoia and more confidence. Just send your shipment. It gives you time, it makes it easier if you ever come to your senses and actually decide to talk to him, and it shows you aren’t worried. Act as though: Who of any intelligence would dare break an agreement with Salar of Kharav?”
Mikael sat, mulling. He took a drink from his chalice as she and Soren watched him. Then he turned to Soren. “Send the shipment.”
The commander glared at Norah with anger thick across his brow, but he gave a forced nod to his king. Still, she knew this situation was anything but resolved.
