The Glittering Court (The Glittering Court, #1)(98)

“And I told you, you have no business here. Icori are not welcome on Denham lands—or any civilized Osfridian lands. Go back to the territories you were ceded.”

“I would gladly do that,” the blond man replied, “if your people would stop trespassing onto our lands.” There were two notable things about the way he spoke. One was that he was remarkably calm, given all the guns pointed at him. Second, his Osfridian was nearly perfect.

“No one wants your lands,” said Warren, which seemed slightly inaccurate given all that Osfrid and other countries across the sea had taken. “If anything, I’ve heard rumors of your people harassing our lands up north. Should that be true, you’ll have real visitors in your lands in the form of our soldiers. A little more serious than these delusions you’re prattling on about.”

“The burned villages I’ve seen aren’t delusions. We demand answers.”

Warren scoffed. “Forgive me if I don’t really feel the two of you can make demands. There’s a lot more of us than there are of you.”

“Shoot ’em!” someone called from the crowd. “Shoot the savages!”

The Icori man remained unfazed and never looked away from Warren. “I’d hoped we wouldn’t need shows of force to open a dialogue on protecting innocents. I’d think that’s what civilized men do.”

“Civilized,” sneered Elias. “Like you’re ones to talk.”

“This civilized man is going to give you the chance to leave with your lives.” Warren’s words suggested generosity, but his tone was pure ice. “Not far ahead is a northward trail that cuts through the corner of Denham and leads over to the western territories. I’m sure you know it. I’m sure it’s what you took to get here. Turn around right now and go back. If you move fast enough, you should be out of Denham by sunset. I’m going to leave a group of men to guard that trail’s intersection and scout it out in the morning. If there’s any sign that you are still in our lands, you will die.”

“Shoot ’em anyway!” someone yelled.

The Icori murmured something to his companion. The bearded man scowled and answered back in their own language. The blond man turned back to Warren. “We will take our conversation elsewhere. Thank you for your time.”

The Icori turned around on their horses, and I held my breath as several men held up their guns and aimed at the Icoris’ backs. Warren noticed this too and held up a hand of warding. The Icori horses quickly moved from a walk to a gallop and were soon out of range.

The Icori encounter was all anyone could talk about for the rest of the day. Opinions were understandably mixed. Plenty were in the “shoot ’em” camp. Others thought Warren’s act of compassion only showed what a noble spirit he had.

“It was all a bluff,” an older man told Cedric and me at dinner that night. He paused to turn his head and spit. “He had no other choice. If he’d killed him, there’s always the chance of triggering another war. No one knows how touchy the Icori are these days. And that whole nonsense about men guarding the trail is . . . well, nonsense. Icori don’t need trails. If they want to slip away and melt into the woods, they can.”

I looked across the heads of the other settlers, off to where Warren sat on the opposite side of camp. He had a bigger group of admirers than usual, all lauding him on his masterful act of diplomacy. I’d thought it was well done myself until I heard our companion’s commentary.

“The Icori were much more composed than I expected,” I remarked. “I’d be a lot more hostile if I’d been forced from my land.”

“Twice,” the old man reminded us. “Don’t forget the heroes who threw them out of Osfrid in the first place. Good King Wilfrid. Suttingham. Bentley. Rothford.”

I tried not to wince at hearing my ancestor’s name. The settlement of Osfrid had taken place so long ago that it was easy sometimes to forget that the savages Rupert had fought there were the ancestors of those who’d fled across the sea and made new lives for themselves in these lands. Or tried to, at least.

“This place is so vast,” I told Cedric later. “Adoria’s a hundred times the size of Osfrid. Shouldn’t there be enough room for all of us this time?”

He gazed around us. Nightfall was upon us, but we could still make out the enormous trees as they reached up to the stars. “Greedy men never have enough room. I don’t know what’ll happen to the Icori—or this land. Osfrid was once this wild too, and now it’s clear-cut and parceled.” He looked back down and slipped his arm around me. I caught the scent of his vetiver, reassuring me not all civilization was lost. “One thing I do know is that they’ve increased nighttime watches. You and I are going to have to go separate ways tonight.”

“Are you sure?” But even as I spoke, I knew he was right. I could already see patrols assembling. “I won’t sleep nearly as well.”

“I’ll actually sleep better,” he muttered.

“You don’t like sleeping by me?”

“I like sleeping by you too much. I spend half the night thinking about—”

“Hey,” I warned. “There are children nearby.”

Cedric gave me a look of mock chastisement. “What I was going to say is that I spend half the night thinking about when we’re getting married. The places your mind goes. Someone should have sent you to finishing school.”