Blessing grunted. The sound was so quiet that it went unremarked by everyone except Anna.
“It’s true I made that offer to Henry,” she continued. “Because that was the will of the council. But those who wished for an alliance no longer lead the people.”
“Who leads?”
“I lead. I am Feather Cloak.”
“Is this the same position your son claims among the Wendish? He calls himself king.”
“Does he?” she asked, but it was obvious by her expression that she already knew. “Something like, in your eyes, I suppose. What is your offer? What sword do you bring to us?”
He shrugged, a movement that might have been designed to dislodge an annoying fly. “First of all, I have information. The Aostans are weak and divided.”
“The Aostans?”
“Those who live in the south. The Arethousans, too, have suffered grievously and are weak.”
“The Arethousans?”
“Let me proceed in a different manner. I have with me a map, which I can read, that shows the lay of the land.”
“Such a map would save us time and trouble, it is true. If we meant to march to war. But it is a long journey from these southern lands to those in the east, and the west, and the north. There is a great deal of wasteland to cross. It is an even longer road to Wendar.”
“So it is. There are shorter paths.”
“Ah.” She smiled in the manner of a warrior who has humbled his worst enemy. “You speak of the crowns. I know the secret of the crowns.”
“So you do, according to Brother Zacharias. Still, you were forced to walk across the breadth of the country through many lands in both winter and summer. I need not do so. I can walk where I will. I can cross between any crown and any other crown in the space of no more than three days. I can cross great distances in a short time. Who else has this power? Do you, Uapeani-kazonkansi-a-lari?”
Anna thought her legs would collapse, but she held steady. Disbelief choked her, and it was just as well, lest she cry out.
Traitor! Would you sell your own people to the enemy?
“This offer tempts,” said the woman coolly. Her tongue flicked between her lips, as though she began to lick her lips for a taste of what she desired, but stopped herself. “So I ask myself: what do you want? In the marketplace, no one trades without asking a thing in return.”
He nodded, but he was tense now, eager, held taut. He teased his lower lip with his teeth, caught himself doing so it seemed, and licked his lips instead, in an echo of her, blinking quickly and taking a deep breath. “I want only one thing. One thing, in exchange.”
hook her head. “My uncle says that your people invaded the woodlands where his people bided for long years.”
“How can that be? No Ashioi survived on Earth.”
“They survived in the shadows.”
“In the shadows?” He considered, eyes almost closing as if he was thinking hard. With a slight nod, he went on. “If the memory is still fresh in your eyes, let me say that nevertheless I offer you an alliance.”
“What have you to offer us?”
Hugh still held onto Blessing, who had not moved. Strangely the woman who was Sanglant’s mother had glanced at the child only once and by no other sign showed any interest in her. Not the rest, though. Anna was accustomed to observing without being herself observed, because she was not important enough that noble folk took notice of her. Both the handsome man and the old man studied Blessing with alert interest. The woman standing at the side of the old man studied each person in Hugh’s party. Indeed, that woman caught Anna’s gaze and, for a moment, examined her so closely that Anna felt a fluttering sense of dread in her own stomach. She had a sudden horrible feeling that if their shadows grew long enough to touch those of the human party, they would gobble them up and swallow them alive. She clutched her hands together to stop herself from trembling.
“I can offer a weapon to you, if you are still bent on war.”
She laughed. “Your words make no sense, Golden One. First you say there cannot be war between your kind and mine because too many generations have passed. Then you say that you will offer us a sword with which to gain an advantage over our enemies. Which is it?”
“You came to Henry’s court in later days, only a few years ago, and warned him of a great cataclysm. Is it not true that you offered him at that time an alliance, while he stood in a position of strength?”
“Now he is dead,” she observed. “You know a great deal, Pale Sun. I like you.”
Blessing grunted. The sound was so quiet that it went unremarked by everyone except Anna.