"The Halvarians have been chipping away at the king"s resolve for years now. Corbin is not the first envoy to grace this court, nor do I believe he"ll be the last."
"What"s their interest in Arnsfeld?"
"Who can say for certain?" said Ashan. "It lies on the border of the empire, so I suppose, from their point of view, it represents a potential invader, but there"s no way Stefan"s meagre forces would be considered a threat to anyone, let alone Halvaria."
He shook his head. "I"m afraid you wasted your time coming here, Commander. You bring too little, too late to be of any consequence."
"I"m not so sure," said Charlaine. "But I thank you for the insight, all the same."
"It was my pleasure. Perhaps we"ll meet again? I should very much like to learn more about you." His face lit up with a
