Rise of the Warrior of Everfen

Chapter 69: Consequences

"We can write to Lohke, if you wish." Cold Hammer suggested from where he sat. He had one beefy elbow propped on his knee, his chin resting on his fist while Erinne stood nearby.

Wren stared at him as he spoke, his expression grim, "And tell him I broke his treaty by killing orcs?"

"Ours."

"What?" Wren frowned.

"Our treaty. It's not just Lohke's, we all wanted it, we wanted peace. It belongs to the entire orc race and human race. It is ours." Erinne was surprised to hear Cold Hammer being so diplomatic with his response to Wren. He wasn't wrong, but usually he chose every opportunity to denounce humans, not count them in. Then he added, "Don't start calling it Lohke's treaty now that you broke your own rules."

Wren took the criticism in stride, for now, "I'm afraid your words from last night are true. The war is already too far underway to cease now. I just didn't want to draw first blood. I tried so hard..."

They were in a room with several of Wren's advisors and one of them chose then to speak, "It could be argued the orcs drew first blood. A war party came into our territory with the purpose of killing our king."

Erinne intervened, she couldn't allow anyone to turn the situation back on anything but itself. "You cannot fail to recognize wrongdoings on both sides. A group came, yes, but Wren also killed them rather than sending them back to Lohke in chains. Both these actions assure the initiation of war, whether Wren intended it or not."

"You would accuse our king of starting another war?" One of them shoved to his feet.

"No, I would accuse people like you who fail to acknowledge the troubles we are faced with. We can't cover this up. Twelve orcs will not be returning home. Pretending it didn't happen would be worse than admitting to it. We know Wren acted in self defense, but it is for him and the Great Chieftain to work out and decide how to approach this situation."

"Pray tell," the advisor continued with a scowl, "how it would be best to inform the Great Chieftain of these matters. The orcs are dead and buried."

Cold Hammer glared at him, his fist falling from his chin and back to his side, "Their bodies will be returned to their families for proper burial."

"They're criminals of war."

"Their families are not." She could see him tensing, fingers clenching into a ball until his knuckles turned white. He was still being surprisingly diplomatic and it made her increasingly proud of him. Lohke would be proud. He brought honor to his Great Chieftain today.

Working to keep everything diffused, she tried to find a way to explain it in terms they could understand, without argument, "Have you ever lied to your parents, sir? And been caught?"

The advisor looked startled by the change in topics. "Perhaps."

"Most parents would become angered by this, yes? I'm sure you faced consequences. Consequences that would have been less burdensome had you just admitted to the problem, cleared the air, and allowed room to move forward." She'd been living with orcs too long. Blatant honesty was such a preferred method, as opposed to the political discretions that humans seemed to thrive on.

"I'm talking about protecting our king and people,"

"So am I." She narrowed her eyes at him. "You dare suggest otherwise?" He shut his mouth and sat back down in his chair, vague irritation on his face. "Lying to your ally is a sure way to break any possible ties to him, and we will truly be at war then, in every way."

It was strange, but with the way her heart pounded in her chest, heat flushing her cheeks, she thought Cold Hammer was calmer than she was right now. He had to be thinking the same things she was. This day, all the words they shared, proved only that the war was truly beginning. As the ancestors had warned them, they could look for the signs and they had. They'd known it was coming, they'd watched and talked about the signs late at night when Andol slept.