The room erupts in chaos once again. Lobelia hisses while Mazus’s advisors look aghast, hands raised in outrage. It’s a smart plan, though I’m unsurprised at her expert political maneuvering. The Council of Advisors fights every time about who to send with Laurel to the Forum of Royals, but the reality is she doesn’t need anyone to accompany her. She’s fully capable of running her kingdom and negotiating with the other leaders. She’s the only one who doesn’t see the fearsome and capable ruler she’s become.

Mazus and Laurel stare one another down. I practically hold my breath, waiting for Mazus’s response. He raises a single hand, and the room quiets. “You have a deal, Queen Laurel,” Mazus says, eyes bright. I let out an inaudible sigh, tension leaving my body, while Mazus’s advisors suck in a breath. Laurel only grins.

“And what about Delsar?” Lobelia asks, though not with the anger I would have expected from her.

“You can still purchase thayar from us at the same quantity of prior years, and I’ll reduce the export tax by fifteen percent,” Laurel responds. Lobelia only nods, and I can’t understand why she isn’t more upset at this turn of events.

Despite my confusion, I nearly laugh at Laurel’s brilliance. She’s played the game well. The arrangement secures Thayaria grain without increasing thayar shipments by a single stem. We’ll make more coin on the shipments we do produce, a resource we’ll desperately need in the future if I don’t uncover a way to stop the declining magic. Plus, it gets us out of the agreement with Lobelia that we absolutely would not have been able to honor, while covering the real reason for us agreeing to trade with Velmara after three hundred years of embargo.

Laurel remains stoic, staring Mazus down with a self-satisfied smirk. Mazus sneers at her in return, the two of them locked in a battle of silent wills. The tension coils in the room, and once again the Delsar Queen has to step in to cut the tension. The room practically takes an audible breath in at the release.

“While I’m disappointed to have lost the trade agreement to Velmara, I for one am happy to see Thayaria and Velmara taking steps to become what they once were—allies,” Queen Lobelia says. Something prickles at the back of my mind at her use of the word, but I shove it aside for another time, too relieved and thrilled with the outcome of events to worry about anything else right now.

After the Forum concludes, Laurel and I sit in her suite together in comfortable silence. I prepare a generous pour of red wine for her, and an even more generous pour of whiskey for myself, handing her the glass before taking my seat on a sofa next to her.