“Fine,” she says. “I’ll start spreading your whispers, as you call them, but it still leaves us unevenly matched for a battle at the Fire Mine. Frederick tells me it will take four days to reachRico.”
Frederick, who has been listening intently to the conversation while rolling back and forth on the balls of his feet like an impatient child, looks surprised to hear his name, though he quickly nods.
“InRico, we will meet with King Etristo,” Dragonsbane continues.
It takes a second for me to understand where this is heading. “I’m not marrying this King Etristo,” I say, hardening each word, as if the issue were simply a matter of her hearing me.
She only laughs. “Oh, my darling, no. Etristo is far too old to make a good match for you, not to mention the fact that he already has a wife. No,
