elves tried so hard to hide.
“I understand your suspicion. The Escarlish haven’t given you many reasons to trust us in the past.” Averett’s voice remained calm, his shoulders relaxed. He gestured to the Escarlish guards standing behind Edmund, Julien, and Jalissa. “With your permission, I will station my guards on the wharf where they will have a view of the deck. I trust that you mean me no harm, but it would reassure my guards.”
“That sounds reasonable.” Weylind spun on his heels. “If you would follow me, we can continue this discussion on my ship.”
After waving to the Escarlish guards and their siblings to follow, Averett fell into step beside Essie as they trailed after Weylind. “I’m sorry you had to be the level-headed one, Essie. You’ve already gone through too much in the past day.”
Yes, she had. And the nightmare she now found herself in wasn’t going to end anytime soon. Wars weren’t fought overnight. Would they be able to take this war to the trolls fast enough to keep Farrendel alive?
They had to. There wasn’t another option.
At least she could be certain Farrendel was alive. If she closed her eyes and concentrated hard enough, she could feel the warm, crackling sense of Farrendel deep inside her chest through the elven heart bond.
He was unconscious now. Or perhaps in some kind of drugged state. She couldn’t tell through the connection of the heart bond.
Either way, the trolls were taking him farther and farther away from her. Would she ever see him again? Or would—
No, she refused to let herself even think it. Farrendel would survive, and they would rescue him.
Within a few minutes, Essie found herself on the deck of the elven ship surrounded by all three of her brothers, Jalissa, and Weylind. The Escarlish guards remained on the wharf with the ship’s deck in rifle range. Not that their intervention would be needed.
The few elven guards Weylind had brought scurried around the deck as they fetched a table, chairs, and refreshments. Apparently, now that Essie had called him out on it, Weylind actually intended to be gracious.
Once Essie had them calmed down, snacking on cold venison and cheese, and sitting down at the same table, the negotiations for the new treaty went as smoothly as could be expected. This new treaty would be a mutual defense treaty, with plenty of provisos and legal lingo and all stuff that Essie only cared about marginally as long as they helped her get Farrendel back.
This time, there were no professional diplomats present to read over the hastily assembled treaty to make sure nothing was amiss. Both Edmund and Julien read it over, and Essie figured if it passed Edmund’s inspection, then there couldn’t be anything too disatrous in the wording.
Averett must have thought so too since he pulled a pen from his shirt’s pocket. A carved wooden pen that Essie had given him less than a week ago, made by a friend of Farrendel’s in Estyra.
Essie swallowed at the lump in her throat. Everything had been so happy that day she and Farrendel had given gifts to her family. Awkward, yes, as Farrendel and her family got to know each other. But also filled with so much laughter and joy and everything she wanted to get back.
Averett signed with a flourish and held the pen out to Weylind.
Weylind took the pen, turning it over in his hands. He had to recognize the elven craftsmanship. Leaning over the table, he signed the treaty as well.
This time, there was no fanfare. No celebration. No wedding to make it official.
Weylind set down the pen and faced Averett, waiting.
Averett crossed his arms. “I need to return to Aldon to officially declare war on Kostaria and mobilize Escarland’s army. But I would like to send both of my brothers to Estyra with you. Julien can work with your army’s leaders to formulate a plan on how to transport Escarland’s army through Tarenhiel with minimal disruption, while Edmund...” Averett trailed off, glanced at Edmund.
Edmund smirked, relaxing against the back of his chair.
“Edmund can assist in scouting Kostaria’s borders.” Averett said it almost too slowly, too diplomatically. He was trying so hard not to say outright that Edmund was a spy that it nearly made Essie smile.
Nearly. Everything was far too serious for smiles.
Weylind’s brows lowered. “My scouts have their jobs well in hand. They can move far more easily without a human tagging along.”
Essie resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Trust Weylind to get all huffy