Kono wondered what the Council was doing in her absence. Nothing good, she was sure. Their attempt to hire Tsak had failed, and they might already have word of his betrayal_. They would not be any wiser for it. Nothing had made them wiser.
She was tired of walking.
"I rule a small land," she suddenly said. Tsak gave her an odd look, but Callum and Ryson nodded. "Why have we been pulled into this trouble? Or am I only here because I was with my cousins?"
"You think we are more important than you?" Ryson replied with a shake of his head.
"Your land is the linchpin for the borderlands," the Gryphon said, ignoring their byplay. "You sit between the human lands and the magic domain, and you accept both. You are the portal through which we connect."
Kono felt an odd surge of understanding. She had never looked at the situation in terms of both sides. Everyone was equal to her, but it had not always been that way with earlier rulers. The council kept trying to draw them back to an older time where humans thought they ruled everything they saw. How could they be so blind and so damned egotistical?
Were they ever going to reach somewhere? Then what would they do? Let Callum talk to the dragons? Why not?
"You need the Dradeni -- the humans as part of your alliance," Tsak suddenly said. "You cannot keep the peace if all you hold is magical allies. I believe we have come to an agreement on the terms. Who can write it out?"
"Callum." Kono waved in his direction. "He has had my permission to create such documents as an ambassador. He hasn't disappointed me with the results."
They spent the next several miles talking through the points. They rested about midday, and Callum produced paper and ink from a pack he had still been carrying. He took his work seriously. He found a flat stone and wrote out the document.
Kono napped.
She awoke with enough time to read and sign the treaty, Tsak doing the same. By then they were ready to move on.
"Ryson, I would like you to keep the treaty," Kono said. Tsak nodded. "I trust you to keep it safe if we encounter trouble."
Ryson gave a short laugh. "We are not merely going to encounter trouble -- we are running headfirst into it."
No one argued. Ryson took possession of the Queen's copy of the treaty and put it inside his jacket.
The Gryphon left to scout the area. The others bunched together and kept silent. There was a feel of danger nearby, and Kono feared she heard drums echoing through the forest behind them.
Snow fell that afternoon. The Dradeni muttered, but they didn't slow. They spread out around the main group, though sometimes Ryson joined them as a guard. The terrain became rockier, and the trees thinned.
Kono wanted them to reach their destination and be done with this trouble. She didn't want the Dragon Core to fully wake, but had the feeling they would deal with dragons, anyway.
The wind blew harder, shaking the few trees around them. She almost cursed when ice hit her face. Kono reminded herself that this wasn't any different from a walk on the battlements at home. Maybe it wasn't so much the wind and cold as it was the sound of the trees moving.
Moving.
One glance back confirmed her fears. "Wood Trolls!"
They instantly prepared for battle. It was no use trying to run on this rocky terrain. Wood trolls with their multiple limbs had the advantage in movement. Most of them were larger than humans, too. Watching them gallop toward the attack stilled her with blade in hand.
Callum and Ryson took their usual positions at her side. That gave her more confidence. The three of them had faced other troubles together. Wood trolls were dangerous, but so were the three of them.
A flurry of limbs snapped out at them, but they were thin, new growth, and easy to slash apart. From what she had heard about wood trolls, this was a feint to wear the enemy down. It would have worked if there had been fewer people fighting with Kono.
The drums were coming closer. Enemies everywhere.
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