Chapter 206: Fracture XIII

Chapter 206: Fracture XIII

The statement was delivered calmly, utterly matter-of-fact, without glee or remorse. Despite preparing for the worst, I felt an icy chill travel my spine. Was this it? The moment he finally turned? Showed his true face?

A growl escaped my throat. Seras your gods-damned-daughter.

So she is. But I wasnt talking about Sera. King Gil responded evenly.

What?

Annette is no longer needed here. She has done little for years, and serves no current or eventual advantage for the looming threat. King Gil stated matter-of-factly, as if he was listing the pros and cons of weaponry.

Horse shit. I spat. Shes a tactical genius, worthy to retain on that merit alone. Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m

Genius. The king rolled his eyes, subtly enjoying the reaction he was raising. What wars has she won?

What conflicts have you sought her counsel for? I countered, knowing the number was probably none. Annette won the battle against my regiment. Im no stranger to strategy but engineering a victory in a battle like that is beyond me. She knew the chokes, the terrain, where best to lay an ambush and where to avoid at all costs. Her knowledge is far more than hypothetical. Its practical, worthy of any general or lord of arms at your call.

Yet I have many generals, and only two daughters. King Gil took a step forward, now a torso length away from me. My intention from the start was to marry one of them off to House Westmore.

I nearly pondered why he was telling me this before the name sunk in, washing away everything else.

The House of shady deals and slavers? I seethed.

He sneered. Grow. Up. With my heirs absence, it made sense to keep them both close as contingencies. Now that youve returned, theres no need for both. A political marriage to House Westmore would serve us greatly. Offer more beneficial trade terms and secure supply lines overseas that could otherwise be bought out from beneath us. They will make considerable concessions in exchange for proximity to the crown. And if what I hear about the rarity of her magic is true, they will inevitably make more. With their full backing, no matter how long the war with the arch-mage extends, our coffers will never run dry.

I struggled to keep my voice low. You informed me our current agenda was to end the war early.

None. The deadline is nightfall. Annette is within the city walls. And I have instructed the city guard to turn a blind eye. He paused. To be clear, the Black Shields are simply following orders. One such order was to use blunted weapons. Given that knowledge, the terms of engagement are up to you.

If you were concerned about the lethality of my response, it would have been wise to threaten something I cared about less. I breathed.

Out of the corner of my eye, Mari stiffened.

Good. King Gil nodded approval. Never cede an advantage to your enemy, given the choice

Save it. I snapped. Even beyond what he intended for Annette, hed spent the morning interrogating Sera. As she hadnt told him what he wanted to hear, it wasnt hard to imagine how exactly that went for her. I was done listening to him. How do we begin?

In the spirit of fairness, Ill allow a safe period for you to confer with your banner lieutenants. Form a strategy. When that discussion ends, or any out of the ordinary movement is spotted from your camp, including, He pointed his sword at Maya, the emissaryIt will be taken as a signal of readiness. There was a harsh crunch, followed by the vibrating keen of steel as he planted his blade into the ground, leaning on it and crossing his arms, assuming an expression of boredom.

For a statement so simple, it was laden with deception. The tell was how reasonable it sounded. Hed sprung this on me out of nowhere, completely unexpectedly, giving me almost no time to prepare. If he was anyone else, the allowance of unlimited time to strategize would probably be a genuine olive branch. But this was King Gil. And the lessons he doled out so earnestly, such as never ceding an advantage to your enemy, were part of a core ethos he followed with the devoutness of a bishop. Further supported by the way he seemed intent on staying nearby, presenting himself as a threat.

I needed to test something.

Will you consider dispatching runners to alert and gather the rest of the regiment as out of the ordinary? I asked, keeping my tone neutral.

He made a show of considering the question, then shook his head. No. But if they deviate from that exact order, or are instructed to gather here, there are limits to my generosity.

Shit. It was a risk hed only take if Thaddeus had been summoned back from whatever hole hed crawled into since my return.

Very well.

I turned on my heel and jogged over to where my banner lieutenants were standing, Mari trailing behind me.