“If we were cautious in divulging our information, it was largely because we knew and still know so little ourselves. Bad information is no better than information. Surely you agree?” He paused, but not long enough for Corinn to answer. “We know the Other Lands are vast. We know the Auldek are powerful. But that is all we know. As you will understand, that is no knowledge at all. So we concluded that now as we are entering a new age under your leadership it was essential that we learn more of this nation we are so dependent on.”

“You sent spies among them?”

“Just so.”

“But before we learned much of anything,” Sire Neen proceeded, “one of our agents was found out and captured. He, in turn, was convinced to betray other agents. Several were captured and … questioned.”

“How many?” Corinn asked.

“Oh …” Dagon pursed his lips as if the exact number were of no consequence, but then he produced it. “Twenty-seven.”

“Twenty-seven? Are you mad?”

Neen fondled his gold neck collar, fingering the dolphin shape embossed there. “It is a large territory. One or two spies would have told us nothing. It would have been a waste and still a risk at that. Our spies were finely trained, disciplined, and looked perfectly the part of grown slaves. We were all shocked when one was caught and shocked that he gave up the others so thoroughly.”

“It seems,” the other leagueman said, “that the Lothan Aklun took possession of them. They have very persuasive forms of torture.”

Corinn tapped her fingernails against the hard wood of the armrests, waiting for more. “So you’ve been caught spying? How have the Lothan Aklun responded?”

“Put simply,” Sire Neen said, “this has placed us in an awkward position. What we believe will help is a direct entreaty from yourself. We will make our own apologies directly to both parties, but if you could stand strong with us, while avowing complete innocence in the matter, it will strengthen our position. The Lothan Aklun need to know that the league and the Acacian crown are two fingers of the same hand.”

“You want me to tell them you’re my preferred middlemen, is that it? But what if they can offer better terms?”

Both men looked aghast, though she knew it was a show. Nothing surprised men like these. Sire Dagon said, “Majesty, you can have no idea what sort of mistake that would be.”

Corinn smiled. “Why don’t you tell me, then?”

Sire Dagon showed her the palms of his hands, his long fingers crooked. It was a rather odd gesture that she had yet to understand fully. “You and the next several generations of Akarans would waste your lives trying to learn all the many branches of Lothan Aklun duplicity. They are vile, completely without conscience; and they would seek to cheat you in every way possible. They huddle on the isles of the Barrier Ridge, scheming new treacheries. It is only because we—the league—have dealt with their every scheme over the centuries that you are spared such things. They would love nothing better than feasting on your ignorance of their ways.”