Luckily for my sanity, the door to the throne room slams shut. King Teo and Lord Lothar stride in. Teo’s usual confidence is dampened by his tight grip on a thick stone slab, roughly the length of a knife.
Estela stands. “Well?” Her gaze drops to the object he carries. “What on earth is that?”
He lifts the tablet, and I realize it’s been engraved.
My hands clench. The movement sends another ripple of cold through me, the edges of my vision tinged with frost.
“This is the missive from the elves,” he says sourly.
Svanna sits up. “The elves… engraved a stone slab to send a letter? Do they think we don’t know how to use paper?”
Thorne pipes up from the back. “Come now, you can’t tell me your kind never wrote on stone tablets.” He gestures broadly at the impressive stonework around us.
“Stone is impractical for records,” Svanna argues. “Not only for storage but because the longer the slab, the easier it is to break. The paper we craft from rock undergoes a fine milling process. It’s not unlike the paper your kind makes from wood.”
“Yes, and enduares have been using stone paper for nearly a thousand years,” Arlet interjects. “The insinuation is that enduar texts would be so primitive in our age is insulting.”
I roll my eyes, forgetting that Arlet has become an amateur historian since starting her project, Lorepath.
Ulla, the leader of the healers, smirks at the elf to her right. “Exactly right, Lady Arlet. Forgive Lord Thorne.”
“Emissary, notlord,” I grumble.
Thorne is Mrath’s right-hand. Even as an ally, I can’t help but think she’s a snake. No reason her old lover wouldn’t be one as well.
“Responding to our request for peace with an insult doesn't bode well for the situation,” Teo says, his voice clipped. He moves toward the throne, Lothar trailing behind to stand near the raised platform.
“The elves do nothing without careful calculation,” Teo continues. “I think this is meant to show just how weak they think we are.”
“From what you’ve explained,” Thorne nods in Arlet’s general direction, “I’m inclined to agree.”
Teo stares the tablet. He looks at it like a man tired of war. Tired of scraping and scrimping to survive.
He has two children now. I know he wishes to be with them over charging across the battlefield.
The newest council member sits forward. Arlet foldsher hands gracefully in her lap, feigning complete sobriety, as if I hadn’t seen her drink three glasses of mead before I slipped away.
“Have we already begun studying its contents? I would appreciate knowing exactly what it says,” Queen Estela intones.
Teo passes the missive to Lothar, who has a better understanding of elvish. The enduar clears his throat, then begins to read.
"To the rulers of Enduvida, we have received your message. Frankly, we were surprised by your request to ease tensions. Your war with the giants, and your conquests with the humans, have disturbed the balance of the continent, and without a third party to regulate your power, we worry for the future of our world. As such, we have decided to take the responsibility of peace upon our shoulders and contest your growth."
I grind my teeth, but the rest of the room remains silent. Only the distant hum of machinery filtering air into the city and the riotous festivities outside fill the void.
Lothar continues. "There is but one way to avoid the destruction of your people at the hand of our troops. It is a simple solution—a symbolic offering to prove your sincerity. King Arion requests a human virgin to bear the elven heir. We do not require time to sort through the crop and ask for the flame-haired one called Arlet. If our request is met, a binding peace agreement will be brokered, and Enduvida will be spared a second war.”
“What?” I blurt out.
Every head in the room turns to Arlet.
She stiffens, her fingers pressing into the arms of her chair, as if she can root herself there.
I see the tension in her jaw and feel the dread sink low in my belly.
King Arion had met heronce. He is a fickle sovereign. How did he muster enough power of mind to continuously think ofher?
But deep in my mind, I understand. Arlet, in all her talent and fearless determination, is not easy to forget.