Last time Ashlynn had shocked the hall, silence seized the tongues of most. This time, a team of horses couldn't hold back the words that burst from people's lips.
"The Vale of Mists? We're supposed to join with the Vale of Mists?"
"Did I hear that right? She said that Airgead Mountain had already fallen?"
"What is Fortress Peak? And where is the High Pass? Are these demon realms too?"
"The Demon Lady of the Vale… We, we're making a deal with, with demons?"
Baron Erling Fayle had already moved past that shock while his mind grappled with something greater. When he had first become the Baron of Fayle, he'd made a bargain with a raven. He promised to keep his forces north of the river Tuilig and in exchange, the villages of his barony had not suffered a single raid in the decade since he'd made his promise.
Ten years of peace with the demons to the south of his barony.
