The reply came eleven days later, carried not by a quiet rider slipping across the border but by a formal Kestrel envoy under truce colors, announced at Ashgrave's gates with all the careful ceremony pack law required for communication between hostile territories.
Rhys received the envoy in the council hall, Idris, and I am flanking him. Petra was present as well, given how directly her research had shaped the message we'd sent. The envoy was young, nervous beneath a carefully composed exterior, and I understood, watching him, that whatever he carried had cost him some courage simply to deliver.
"Alpha Duskfell has received your message," he said, formal and precise. "He asked me to convey his response directly, word for word, as he gave it to me."
"Go ahead," Rhys said.
The envoy drew
