Väina tär Väinis was on her feet before the swell of noise had subsided, but she managed to hold herself back from speaking until Elder Raija had granted her permission with a nod.

“This is nothing but a transparent attempt to gather more votes for her own faction,” the older woman said, her face twisted in what Liv was coming to realize was a perpetual scowl. “She isn’t even being subtle about the timing. If we permit this, we’re as good as adding three more votes to the block she’s built.”

Soaring Eagle stood, only halfway through Master Grenfell’s murmured translation, and spoke in only lightly accented Lucanian. It was clear he was used to giving orders, for his voice immediately filled the amphitheater. “I did not come here to be insulted,” he barked, stepping forward to face Väina eye to eye.

The elder switched languages seamlessly. “If you believe my words are harsh, Chief Soaring Eagle, understand that it is directed at Livara tär Valtteri, not at you. She is a child who is not old enough to sit with us, and she disrespects this council with such naked maneuvering for power.”

Liv considered rising at that, but Julianne’s voice, in the back of her mind, told her that stepping in now would only make Soaring Eagle look more her instrument, and less a leader in his own right.

“No,” the chief of the Red Shields said, his voice firm. “You have –” he scowled, clearly searching for the correct word. “Your words do not just insult her. They mean that the Red Shields would allow ourselves to be at our command. You say that I would not act in the interests of my people. That would make me a bad chief. Is that what you claim, elder?”

“Of course not,” Väina said, visibly back-pedalling. “I am ashamed of Livara’s intentions, her clear attempts to use you and manipulate this council. You should be angry with her, as well, Chief Soaring Eagle, for attempting to use you in this way.”

The man laughed out loud. “I made my judgement of your people after meeting Valtteri, and Inkeris, and both Airis and his son,” Soaring Eagle said. “Honest men who came to the Red Shields with respect, and kept their words. I should have known there would be snakes among the Eld, as well. Whatever support I give Livara, she has bought with promises to help my people. What have you given us, crone? What, save insults?”

At this, Liv finally stood. “In any case, Elder Väina, I’m surprised to find you so judgemental about other people making bargains. You were quite clear, when you approached me, that your vote was for sale, at the price of me taking a daiverim of your house.”

At this, both Liv’s father and Keri’s leapt to their feet, and it was all Liv could do to suppress a grin at the chaos she was causing. The attention of both the council and the audience had now been thoroughly diverted from the question of Wren’s father.

“You would plan this without speaking to me?” Ilmari demanded of his sister.

“Speaking to you?” Valtteri roared. “I am her father. I should have been consulted. I will have words with House Bælris. Now.”

Raija waited for a moment, as if considering, and then nodded, the black folds of her veil shifting. “A brief pause, for the elders of houses Syvä and Bælris to address any misunderstandings in private,” she decided. “We will reconvene after the evening meal.”

“Thank you, Elder Raija,” Liv said, making certain to raise her voice enough that it would be clearly heard. “And when we return, we can also address what punishment will fit the crimes of Juhani of Soltheris.” She made certain to meet Elder Veera’s eyes, when she said it. The trap was baited; now she only needed to see whether it would be sprung.

☙

“It is a matter of respect!” Valtteri ka Auris ranted, clearly more angry than Liv had actually expected. Her father was standing so close to Keri’s father that their chests were nearly touching: it was the sort of body language she would have expected from the young noblemen at Coral Bay, or in Freeport. “Did you know of this?”

Keri’s father shook his head. “My sister did not consult me before making this offer,” he admitted, shooting a glance to where Väina sat in a folding camp chair a few feet from the camp-fire of House Syvä. All six of the combined elders, from both houses, were present, and Liv had settled herself on a log next to Keri.

“I am not required to consult my brother when negotiating matches for my own son,” Väina remarked, her nose and chin pointed high.

“Though your offer wasn’t specifically for Sohvis,” Liv pointed out. “It was for any man of your house. Though I did take your meaning; you’d already brought it up once before, when we visited Mountain Home.” She’d never quite understood the pleasure Julianne had derived from outmaneuvering her enemies, but to her astonishment, Liv was finding it quite satisfying to drop surprise after surprise on her own opponents. Watching Väina being forced to repeatedly scramble for balance was downright fun

.

Liv’s father shot her a glance, to which she returned as innocent a look as she could. Then, Valtteri rounded on Ilmari again. “And I suppose you were not consulted that time, either?”

Keri’s father winced. “I was… aware of that discussion. It was over a meal, and not a formal offer. I considered it more in the line of – speculation.”

“Valtteri,” Liv’s grandmother said. “Why don’t you come and sit. I’ve known Ilmari for a very long time, and I’m certain he did not insult us intentionally.”

“I did not,” the old man snapped.

With a huff, Liv’s father turned away from Ilmari, rounded the fire, and sat next to his mother. “My daughter is brilliant, brave, and capable,” Valtteri said, and Liv felt an unexpected warmth spread through her chest. “But she is also young, and was not raised among the Vakansa. There are things she has not yet learned. I will not have her cornered by someone who wishes to take advantage of her in this way.”

“Your father is terrifying when he wishes to be,” Keri whispered in Liv’s ear. “I can’t tell whether he’s truly so furious, or exaggerating it to get something he wants.”

He’d leaned in to tell Liv something a hundred times before, in the course of their journey across Varuna, or fighting together at the pass, or beneath the Tomb of Celris – but Liv found she was now intensely aware of how close Keri’s body was to hers. While she had always been able to tell herself, before, that they were only friends and companions, the kiss she’d given him the night before had changed things. There was an intimacy to the act of sharing his thoughts with her like this, as if they were having their own private conversation, to which no one else was given access.

“I’ll ask him afterword,” Liv whispered back, turning her head toward where Keri leaned in close to her ear. The position put their faces very close together.

“An apology should be backed by something,” Kaija spoke up. Liv had been surprised to see her captain of the guard sit as one of the house’s elders, but it only confirmed in her mind that her friend was more important to the family than she’d first seemed, when Liv met her as an armorer.

“I presume you have something in mind,” Ilmari grumbled.

“Stand aside from the Red Shield Vote,” Kaija proposed. “You don’t need to support Liv. Just don’t get in her way.”

“That is acceptable,” Ilmari decided, after a moment’s thought.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Brother –” Väina began, but Keri’s father didn’t let her finish.

“Do not even begin,” he hissed. “You dug this pit yourself, sister. And dragged the entire family into it with you. I will have words with you in just a moment.”

“And any further discussions regarding my granddaughter's – prospects,” Eila tär Väinis said, “should include her father and I. We will not make any decisions for you, Livara. But we will answer any questions you may have, and give you advice.”

Liv turned away from Keri and straightened in her seat. “Thank you, grandmother,” she said.

“I suppose you will be remaining here,” Ilmari asked his son.

“I will.” Keri’s voice, from Liv’s side, was calm, but allowed no room for argument.

Ilmari gave a huff. “I’m astounded you thought there was any point in putting Sohvis forward,” he told his sister. “Come along, then.”

Only once the three elders of House Bælris had left earshot did Liv speak. “Were you really that angry, father?” she asked. “I suppose I should have told you, but I hadn’t decided whether or not to take the deal until just last evening.”

Her father seemed to consider the question for a moment. “I am angry,” he said. “With them, not with you – though yes, I wish you had told me sooner, so that we could have spoken. But it was also useful to show my anger today, and not to restrain it. Otherwise I might not have been quite so –”

“Loud?” Keri asked.

Valtteri grunted. “Inkeris, we’ve fought beside each other. I respect you, and I believe you respect me.”

Liv could feel Keri straighten beside her as he spoke. “I do.”

“Good.” Liv’s father nodded. “Do nothing to change that.”

“I’m glad to have gotten three votes off the board, and to have derailed the question of Wren’s father for the moment,” Liv said.

“Nicely done, by the way,” her grandmother said. “The next step is House Kalleis, I presume, or you wouldn’t have made that last comment before leaving the amphitheater."

“Yes,” Liv admitted. “But we can’t go to them. They need to approach us.”

☙

The waiting, Liv found, was the hardest part.

She, Keri, and Kaija returned to the Whitehill cook-fire, where they rejoined Arnold Crosbie and Master Grenfell. Miina had left word with the two older men that she’d gone to speak with House Esteri, which Liv understood to mean she was going to ask for a consultation about how her throat still sometimes bothered her. Privately, Liv was certain that anything Arjun couldn’t treat wasn’t likely to be helped by any other healers, but she didn’t want to disappoint her cousin’s hopes.

Wren and Ghveris had returned with Soaring Eagle to the Red Shield fire, but as Thora began ladelling bowls of stew out from the iron pot which hung over the fire, they returned, as well.

“Your former wife fetched your son,” Wren told Keri, as she settled herself onto a camp chair. “My cousin let me know.”

Keri nodded. “Good. I expect we’re going to be busy all evening.”

Liv was just about convinced that no one from Soltheris was going to come, after all, when Elder Veera walked out of the twilight and approached their fire. She placed her spoon into her bowl, set it down on the ground at her feet, and stood.

“Good evening, Elder,” Liv said. Around her, the others had risen, as well. “I wanted to thank you again for keeping watch at one of the rifts, in Varuna. Have you eaten?”

“I won’t be here long,” Veera kæn Kalleis said. “You are determined to seek punishment for Juhani?”

“Determined is a strong word,” Liv said, sitting back down, then bending over to lift her bowl again. She rested it in her lap, where it was comfortably warm. “It does seem a bit unnecessary for the entire council to have to get involved to punish one man who couldn’t follow orders – but since the alliance doesn’t have a unified army, like Lucania does, I suppose it can’t be helped.”

Veera looked as if she were trying to crack a nut in her jaw. “The elders of House Kalleis could punish him, instead,” she proposed.

“He didn’t just ignore orders,” Wren growled, getting to her feet. “He killed my people. People who had surrendered or been captured, when we agreed we wouldn’t do that. You looked at me like I was some kind of monster, but I never did anything like that.”

“If he had been of House Syvä,” Keri broke in, “Valtteri would have killed him for it. You know that, don’t you? The only reason he didn’t was because he couldn’t afford to start a fight between houses while we were at war.”

Liv blinked at that. She’d known her father was angry, of course – and he’d backed her up. But would he really have executed Juhani out of hand? She had to admit that he might have. She knew Valtteri best as her father, but Keri had spent months crossing the ocean and the jungles not with the father, but with the commander of men.

“Exile,” she said, and everyone turned to look. “If it comes to a vote, I’m going to ask for his death. It’s what he truly deserves. But he wouldn’t be the first person who deserves death we’ve given mercy to. Let him be exiled, from the lands of your house, and all the lands of the alliance. He can go rot in Calder’s Landing, for all I care, but he’ll no longer have a home, shelter, or support here.”

Veera hesitated, considering the idea. “Exile would preserve his life, at least,” she admitted. “And you would decline to bring the issue before the council, if I announce this punishment?”

“If you do that, and stand aside for the vote on the Red Shield Tribe,” Liv said. “You don’t need to support them. But you won’t oppose them, either.”

“I suppose you’ve asked the same of House Bælris, haven’t you?” Veera said. “I misunderstood you, Livara. I knew you were talented with magic, and it is clear you’re brave and stubborn. But I’d thought you were also naive. I didn’t realize you had it in you to be this vicious.”

“I had a good teacher,” Liv told her, refusing to look away from the older woman’s eyes. “My adopted mother.”

“Better for us if you hadn’t, I think,” Elder Veera said. “You’re determined to break us, aren’t you?”

“No.” Liv shook her head. “Just to change you.”

“I think it will be the same thing, in the end. Fine. You have your bargain. We will remain silent about your Red Shield allies, and you will give us Juhani’s life. But I believe you will find, child, that there are other prices to pay which you have not anticipated.” The gray-eyed woman spun on her heel and stalked off into the evening.

“I think you just won,” Baron Crosbie said, after a long moment of silence. “With six votes standing aside…”

“I don’t see how they can muster enough to stop it now,” Master Grenfell agreed. “But I fear it will only set those two houses more strongly against you.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Liv said. “They were against me anyway.” But the elder’s words gnawed at her, all through the rest of the meal.

☙

When the council gathered again, it was by torchlight.

Liv was certain that the Vakansa could have used magic to light the amphitheater, but instead, along the aisles of the ascending stone benches, sharpened wooden stakes had been hammered into the earth, wrapped in oil-soaked rags, and lit. At the bottom of the depression, in front of the stone benches upon which the elders sat, a bonfire had been built, and it cast all of their faces in a warm, orange glow.

“The question of whether to admit the Red Shield Tribe to the alliance,” Raija said. “All in support, raise your hands.”

Counting was hardly necessary. Whitehill, Kaulris, Syvä, Däivi, and Iravata voted in a block, immediately. When Elder Aira raised her own hand a moment later, five more elders followed, and Liv saw Eiliel of House Asuris in support as well. The Esteri followed, always seeking consensus, and it was done.

“I believe you had another matter to put before us?” Raija asked Liv.

“After speaking with Elder Veera, I withdraw my proposal to place the punishment of Juhani of Soltheris before this council,” Liv said. “I trust it to be decided by his house, instead.”

Once she had returned to her seat, Veera stood. “Thank you, Livara of House Syvä. As the commander appointed over our forces by this council, Valtteri ka Auris would have been well within his rights to execute Juhani out of hand. We thank him for his patience and show of respect in this matter.”

Liv looked over to see her father simply nod his head, once.

“Juhani is hereby exiled from Soltheris, and from all lands of House Kalleis,” Veera declared. “He is no longer one of us, nor will he find aid or shelter with us. Let this be considered a mercy.”

Valtteri stood. “He is hereby exiled from the lands of House Syvä, as well.”

“And Whitehill,” Liv added.

One by one, the other houses added their voices, until there was no land in the north in which Juhani might find shelter. Soaring Eagle spoke last.

“He murdered my people, when they were prisoners,” the chief of the Red Shields said. “This man Juhani is exiled from our hunting grounds, on pain of death. Should our warriors find him, they will slay him on sight.”

“No!” Juhani surged to his feet, among the audience in the dim light of the torches. “You cannot do this! They were savages – they attacked Soltheris! They were our enemies!”

Liv watched as Keri, and a half dozen other young warriors who had clearly been waiting with him, including Olavi, Linnea, and even Miina, took Juhani by the arms and dragged him away. He kicked and fought, leaving drag marks across the earth, and his angry shouts only gradually faded into the night.