Page 63 of A War Apart

A Mission

Han

My bones ached. After a whole day riding in the cold, my hand was practically frozen to the reins. I slid down from the horse, pain radiating with every move, and looked around. The camp was well chosen, with a river to the east preventing attack. A thin sheet of ice lined the riverbanks, but the bulk of the water still flowed.

Tsar Borislav had set his sights on Sevken, his rightful seat as Grand Duke, for our winter base. One of Miroslav’s loyalists held the castle—another Sanctioned, although not a particularly powerful one—and Borislav was ready to take it back. The tsar was confident that the majority of the castle residents remained loyal to him, but if Miroslav had sent a troop of soldiers to defend the castle, who knew how long the siege would take? In addition to the two months of travel, between the slow pace of the army and the poor weather that would slow our progress.

I made my way through the camp, looking for the tent I shared with Yakov. The tsar always sent forerunners ahead to scout out a location and set up camp before the bulk of the army arrived, for which I was grateful. After a day on horseback, it was a relief to get out of the wind and rest.

Yakov was already lying on his cot, tossing a ball up in the air, when I walked in. “Wondered when you’d get here.”

I shucked off my coat. “You can’t have been here long. I saw you a quarter hour ago, mooning over the Blood Bastard.” Wherever Blood Bastard Lada went, it was safe to assume Yakov would be nearby. He was her constant shadow, no matter how many times I warned him away from her. Luckily, the woman herself didn’t seem opposed to the attention. Yet.

“I don’t know what you think you saw, but I’ve been here an hour, at least.” He chucked the ball at my head.

I ducked and sat down on the bed to remove my boots, but before I could, a servant knocked on the tent pole and poked his head inside. “Han Antonovich? The tsar requests your presence in his tent as soon as convenient.”

I sighed, casting a longing glance at the cot. I’d planned to go straight to sleep, but obviously the tsar had other plans. “I’ll be right there.”

“Shame to be important,” Yakov said as the servant left. “I’ll just be here, sleeping unimportantly in my unimportant cot, in my unimportant tent.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll make sure the tsar finds something to keep you busy, if you’re feeling useless,durachok.Brushing the horses, maybe, or digging latrines.” I grabbed my hat and coat, shaking off the excess water, and stepped out into the snow again.

What could the Borislav want now? I saw Matvey Il’ich walking in the opposite direction; apparently not all the advisorshad been summoned. Had the tsar heard from Mila? I quickened my pace, fear and anticipation urging me onward.

As I approached the tsar’s tent, I could hear Prince Radomir’s voice raised in anger.

“—little more than beasts,” the prince was saying. “Otets needs no pagans to carry out his plans.”

“I’ve made my decision,” Tsar Borislav responded calmly as I entered the tent. “I can’t risk my brother getting to them first.” He turned to me.

“You asked for me, your majesty?”

“Yes.” The tsar sank into a chair and gestured for me and the prince to do the same. “To put it simply, Han, we need allies.”

Radomir snorted, but the tsar shot him a look. He fell back into silence.

“You know I spent the better part of the last five years in Andinor. While there, I sought allies to support me in my brother’s Disinheritance. All the dignitaries I met with refused me. We can expect no foreign assistance, and I fear our army will be insufficient to face my brother.”

He was right. The last battle had been a solid victory. We’d been lucky, but we couldn’t grow complacent. “I’ve been worried about that as well, your majesty.”

“What do you know of the Drakra?”

I frowned. “A little. My wife’s mother and brother live near the East Mountains.” I thought back to what Sergey’s letters had told us. The Drakra were a matriarchal race of ferocious warriors. They worshiped a spider goddess, and most Inzhrians were either terrified of them or hated them. The last tsar had led three wars—commonly called the Spider Wars—against the Drakra, driving them east into the mountains. “Her brother says they’re not as bad as their reputation. He trades with them on occasion.”

“Good.” The tsar nodded his approval. “I need someone who’s able to approach this situation without bias.” He gave the princea pointed look. “I want you to go to Yixa na Chekke, high priestess of the Drakra, and treat with them on my behalf. Convince them to fight for me against my brother. Once I take the throne, I will recognize them as an independent nation. We can return some of the land my father took in the wars, and they can send an ambassador to my court, with all the rights and privileges of a human ambassador from a foreign court.”

He was trusting me to negotiate an alliance for him? This was a far cry from asking farmers and smiths to join an army. Treating with the Drakra was a task for a politician, an ambassador. Not for a one-handed soldier.

“You would make them equal to the people of the Blood.” Prince Radomir’s lip curled in disgust. “This is a mistake.”

He ignored his cousin. “I give you leave to choose your own traveling companions, but your group should remain small. No more than two or three others. I can’t spare the men, and I don’t wish you to draw attention to yourself. You saw what my brother did to your fellow survivors of Barbezht.” His face darkened. “He would do the same to you, or worse, were you to be captured.”

And to Mila, if Miroslav found out who she was. I tamped down a spark of resentment toward Borislav for sending her away. It had been her choice. If I had to be angry with anyone, it should be with her, for leaving me.

I forced the thoughts of my wife away. “I’m honored you would choose me for this, your majesty, but is there not someone more qualified?”

“I don’t wish to honor you. I wish for you to negotiate my way out of this war.” He gave me a wry smile. “If I had a full court, I would have other ambassadors to send with you, but we are at war. You are the most qualified man I can spare at the moment.”

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