I looked at the letter in his hand.
I did not take it yet.
---
"You rode into unclaimed territory alone to deliver a letter," I said. "Either you are very brave or very confident that I will not hurt you."
"Neither," he said. "I am confident that you are smart enough to hear what the letter says before making any decisions."
---
Riven was still. That particular stillness he had when he was reading a situation carefully.
I trusted that stillness.
It was not telling me to run.
---
I took the letter.
The seal was smooth under my fingers. Clean wax. Pressed firmly. Someone who sent official correspondence regularly.
"Who holds this seal?" I asked.
"Open it," he said. "It explains better than I can."
---
I broke the seal and unfolded the paper.
The handwriting inside was careful and even. Someone educated. Someone used to choosing words with precision.
I read it once.
Then I read it again.
---
Riven watched my face.
"What does it say?" he asked quietly.
I folded it carefully and held it against my side.
"It says the Alpha King has three generals," I said. "And one of them wants to talk."
---
The man on the log nodded once.
"General Mira Voss," he said. "Eastern Command."
"Why would a general of the Alpha King want to talk to me?" I said.
"Because she is not just a general of the Alpha King," he said. "She is also his sister."
---
Riven went very still beside me.
I kept my face neutral.
"His sister," I said.
"Half sister," the man said. "Different mother."
He paused.
"Hybrid mother," he said.
---
The forest was very quiet around us.
I looked at the letter in my hand.
The Alpha King's half sister. A general. Hybrid blooded.
How had she survived in that position? How had she hidden what she was long enough to rise that high?
---
"What does she want from me?" I asked.
"To meet," he said. "Neutral ground. Just the two of you."
"Why?" I asked.
"The letter explains her reasons," he said. "But the short version is that she has information you need and she has a problem only you can solve."
"What problem?" Riven said.
"Her brother knows what she is," he said. "He has known for six months. She has been running out of time since then."
---
I thought about that.
A hybrid woman who had somehow made herself indispensable enough to survive as a general in a pure blood military structure.
And now her brother the Alpha King knew her secret.
She was not reaching out because she wanted to help me.
She was reaching out because she was out of options.
That was not necessarily a bad thing.
---
"Where does she want to meet?" I asked.
"Three hours west of here," he said. "A village called Greymere. The inn there is neutral ground. Has been for fifty years."
"When?" I asked.
"Tomorrow morning," he said. "Before first light."
---
I looked at Riven.
He was not going to tell me what to do. He was waiting to see what I decided.
I appreciated that more than I could say.
---
"Who are you to her?" I asked the man.
"Her aide," he said. "I have served her for four years."
I studied him properly for the first time.
Up close something was different about him than Soren had described from a distance.
His scent was not fully pure blood.
Not fully anything actually.
---
"You are hiding what you are," I said.
Something shifted in his face. Just slightly.
"She recruited me because of what I am," he said quietly.
So Soren had read him wrong from a distance. He had masked it well enough to fool even Soren's senses from far off.
That was either impressive or alarming.
Probably both.
---
"What is your name?" I asked.
"Corvin," he said.
"Corvin," I said. "Tell General Voss I will be at Greymere before first light tomorrow."
---
Something shifted in his face. Relief. Quickly controlled.
"She will be glad to hear it," he said.
"Tell her one more thing," I said.
"What?" he said.
"If this is a trap," I said. "I will burn everything she has built to the ground before they take me."
---
Corvin looked at me for a long moment.
"I will tell her," he said. And from his tone I believed he actually would.
He stood and picked up his coat from the log.
"One more thing," he said. "She said to tell you she has been watching you for two days."
"Watching me how?" I said.
"She knew about the building before the hunters did," he said. "She redirected two of the Alpha King's scout units away from your path yesterday."
---
I stared at him.
"She has been clearing our route," Riven said quietly.
"Yes," Corvin said. "She wanted you to reach this point before contact was made."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because a leader who can move people safely through hostile territory is worth talking to," he said. "A scared girl running alone is not."
---
He gave me a short nod.
Then he walked into the trees and was gone.
---
Riven and I stood in the quiet for a moment.
"Well," Riven said.
"Yes," I said.
"She has been watching us since the building," he said.
"Yes," I said.
"And we did not know," he said.
"No," I said.
---
That sat between us for a second.
"Are you going to the meeting?" he asked.
"Yes," I said.
"I am coming with you," he said.
"She said just the two of us," I said.
"She said just the two of you inside the inn," he said. "She did not say anything about outside."
I looked at him.
He looked back.
"Fine," I said.
---
We walked back to the group.
I found Maren first and told her the change of plan. She listened without interrupting and asked two sharp practical questions. I answered both.
"Alright," she said. And went back to organizing people.
---
Dane listened to everything then said. "I want three people on the perimeter of that inn before you go in."
"Done," I said.
"Signal," he said. "If something goes wrong."
"Two coughs," I said. "Once means wait. Twice means move."
He nodded and walked off already planning.
---
Soren was quiet after I told him. Then said. "General Mira Voss. She is considered the most tactically skilled of the Alpha King's three generals."
"Is that good or bad for us?" I asked.
"Depends on which side she ends up on," he said simply.
---
Pip just looked at me when I finished.
"You know this sounds insane," they said.
"Most things worth doing sound insane before you do them," I said.
Pip opened their mouth. Closed it.
"I cannot argue with that," they said.
---
We stopped for the night two hours north.
Small fires. People settling. The sounds of a large group finding rest.
---
I sat apart and read General Voss's letter one more time.
The words were careful and exact. No emotion in them. Just facts laid out cleanly.
But right at the end one sentence that was different from the rest.
*I have spent fifteen years pretending to be something I am not. I am tired of pretending. I think you might understand that.*
---
I folded the letter and put it away.
Riven came and sat nearby without being asked.
We did not talk.
I stared at the fire and let my mind go quiet for once.
It did not stay quiet for long but even a few minutes helped.