Page 139 of Unrivaled
“And four downstairs,” the man said, flatly.“One in the next room, and two in the stables.”
Luca’s brows rose as my heart sank.I had no doubt Luca had done exactly as the rebel had identified.“The men downstairs are my friends,” he said, spreading his hands.“In the stables are my footmen.Next door is probably another footman, enjoying his time off—but I can’t be sure.”
The man put a booted foot on the chair, resting a hand on his hip.He appeared to consider this.
“I can only apologize for the miscommunication,” Luca said, shaking his head.“As I’ve no doubt you can tell, it isn’t deliberate, but a regrettable oversight.”He offered his hand to the Southerner again.“Let’s start over, shall we?I’m Luca.”
The rebel didn’t hesitate this time, but met Luca’s hand with his own.As they shook, the silver bracelet, triple-looped around his wrist, gleamed, revealed by the hem of the too-short garment not made to fit his long-limbed frame.“Whaarghun Wolfblood.”
I kept my breathing measured.This wasn’t the man Luca was prepared to deal with.Considering how poorly he dealt withanticipatedcompany, this boded ill.
“I apologize,” Luca said, with no apology in his voice.“I thought your brother was coming.”
“He’s here,” Whaarghun said flatly.“I wanted to look you in the eye myself.”
Under the table I saw Kadan nudge Luca.My friend leaned forward, scooping up dice.Luca took the hint and left off that train of questioning.
“The situation in the South is of utmost importance to me,” Luca assured Whaarghun, taking my untouched wine and setting it before the man, an invitation that could be rejected without anyone losing face.“I know you’re here looking for something real.I’m not planning on making you any false promises.”
The stranger straightened, then settled himself into the chair with a few economical movements.There was something about the way he took up space that made me think of Audrey, those times when she wasn’t reducing herself.It made me think of Kadan, when he wasn’t wearing the guise of a jester.
If this man wasn’t the leader of whatever was going on in the South, I’d eat my tabard.
“I want a future where trade with the South benefits all of us,” Luca said, calmly.“I’m happy to sign off on an agreement to end all tariffs and develop roads and ferries?—”
“A future,” he cut in.“When?How?”
“We’re still negotiating?—”
“You have no plan,” he said, the words harsh, clipped.“You wait until your masters aren’t looking and you steal scraps from their table, but you will not bite the hand that is feeding you.”
Luca’s brows rose fractionally.“As I was saying,” he said, mildly, “we’re negotiating a delicate situation in Black Borough currently.”
Whaarghun’s head was cocked to the side, his eyes narrowed, as if he was listening hard.“You don’t think it’ll work.”
“I have the utmost faith?—”
“Liar,” he cut in, disdainfully, straightening, looking down at Luca.
My breath caught in my chest.It was Kadan who, with a bit of a smile, said, “Whaarghun, we’re playing with long odds here.What we’re doing in Black Borough… it’s a huge gamble.But it’s a gamble we have to make.”
“We can’t win in the field,” Luca said, calmly.“We have to find a way to win off of it.”He cocked his head.“The Duke’s mages, they’re giving you trouble.”
Silence.
“The Academy doesn’t let mages out into the world too often,” Luca said, frowning as if lost in thought.“Those they do send are tightly controlled.”
“Are you offering to deal with the mages?”Whaarghun asked, and his tone was unreadable.
The tiniest spark of hope sat so uncomfortably in my chest that I had to glance away.I knew about War mages.It was one of the first things Kaelson had taught me.If Luca could truly deal with them, then?—
“I have a dozen well-trained, well-resourced reengage mages who left the Academy,” he said quietly.“They aren’t seasoned War mages.I won’t ever lie to you, Whaarghun.But they’ll help, if you use them smart.And you’re a smart man.I’m gathering a little more Glow before I send them via L’tona in the spring.”
The gap in conversation went on for so long that the noise from outside of the room started to creep in.In my mind’s eye, I remembered Isolde, sending an arrow deep into Ylva’s chest when we were ambushed.I saw the figure in the sky.In the storm.
When I looked up, Whaarghun was watching me.
They didn’t need mages.They had their own.
