The Tales of the Wanderer Volume One: A Book of Underrealm (The Underrealm Volumes 4) by Garrett Robinson (elon musk reading list TXT) 📕

Maia gave his lord a swift glance. He could see the sudden tension leap into her muscles, the way her knuckles whitened as they gripped the edge of the table. There was a sense of building energy in the air, as though a firemage had summoned a ball of flame and was threatening to unleash it. He gave his lord a moment to answer, but when she remained silent, he turned to Whetu.

“Thank you,” he said, nodding. “That will be all.”

Whetu nodded and turned to leave the room. The messenger who had brought her left as well, relief plain in her expression at the chance to escape whatever explosion was about to take place.

“That settlement,” growled Lord Telfer. “It was clearly within the bounds of the pact.”

Maia restrained a sigh of exasperation. “Rangatira,” he said carefully, “the last two settlements were within the bounds of the pact.” Not that anyone listened to me when I mentioned that, he added only in his own mind.

She shook her head. “Those were questionable. They could have been interpreted to be within the trolls’ territory. But they were close enough to the border that it could have been viewed as a mistake. This time it is obvious. The trolls are making a statement.”

“A statement?” scoffed Callen. “They are trolls.”

Lord Telfer’s fist tightened again, but this time on the hilt of her dagger. Maia held his tongue. He was the Rangatira’s closest advisor for a reason. His disarming smile, his wry wit, his charm—these helped stave off Lord Telfer’s darker moods, and she knew enough about herself to know how valuable that could be. But Maia had no quip for this, nothing to say that would diffuse the sense of danger in the air.

He turned to the king’s representative. “Callen, may I speak with my lord alone?”

She frowned. “This is an important matter. My counsel may be—”

“It concerns a private affair,” said Maia, giving his best smile. “I promise, I shall tell you as soon as we have finished. We consider your advice invaluable.”

Callen’s eyes narrowed. Maia knew she did not entirely believe him. But she gave a conciliatory nod and left the room.

“If she had remained in here one moment longer …” Lord Telfer let the words trail off.

“Yes, I rather thought our situation might be further complicated if you were to throttle her,” said Maia. He leaned over the map. “You are right, my lord. The trolls are encroaching upon our lands. That has never happened before. I do not see how it can continue without coming to war.”

“War,” said Lord Telfer, her expression souring. “War, against those creatures.”

“Rangatira, how can we … what would that mean? We have never gone to war with the trolls. Not since the days of—”

Her eyes flashed as she looked at him.

“—not since ancient days that no one remembers, and few tales speak of,” he finished, quickly catching his mistake. “We know how to fight them, though it has not happened in an age. But we have no great stores of oil, and if they continue to advance at their current pace, we will not have time to gather more. If it comes to battle, many will die.”

“And if we continue to allow this invasion?” countered Lord Telfer.

“The trolls have not killed anyone. Not yet. And after a dozen villages, I cannot believe that that is an accident. It has to be their intent—not to slaughter our people, but simply to drive them from lands the trolls see as their own.”

“Yet the pact is clear.”

“And have we ourselves not violated the pact for almost a century?”

Both her hands came crashing down on the table. Maia straightened at once, snapping his hands to his sides.

“These are my people!” she roared. “We never pushed into lands the trolls occupied! We never raised a hand against the beasts! We only took what space we needed to live on, only felled the trees we required for new dwellings. Go and find the refugees who flood into Kahaunga every day, and tell them they have violated the treaty. See if that is sufficient comfort to them after losing their homes.”

“I apologize, my lord.” Maia stared straight ahead, just over her shoulder. “I spoke without thinking.”

“You are my counsellor, yet you offer no counsel,” said Lord Telfer. “You invent theories why the trolls are behaving this way, but you provide no solution. What would you do about it?”

“Send me to treat with them,” said Maia. His eyebrows rose imperceptibly, as though he was struggling to keep his expression neutral. “Or send Callen if you wish. She is a diplomat, after all.”

Despite her anger, that made Lord Telfer snort. “She has other uses here. And I will not throw your life away to the trolls. You are too valuable to me.”

She turned away. That meant the matter of his insubordination would be set aside, for now. He had spoken out of turn, but he had said many worse things through the years, and received no reprimand. Maia was useful. That meant he could get away with much. Only occasionally did his lord feel the need to remind him that he could not get away with everything.

“We will have to decide what to do about the trolls,” said Lord Telfer after another long, uncomfortable silence. “But in the meantime, we will protect our people. Send out our messengers to every mountain settlement—all those beyond the pact’s borders. And anyone within a league of our side of the border as well. They must leave their homes and join us here in Kahaunga. Tell the rangers to be vigilant. The trolls are not to be trusted. Muster every soldier that can be gathered, in case this should indeed come to war. And finally …” She sighed and played with her ear with two fingers. “I will compose a message to the king. I am not yet willing to ask them for aid, but I must inform them of