The Hawk Lord by Amy Sumida
Chapter Thirty-Three
“What would you have me do?” King Avamael asked Dalsharan after he explained our suspicions.
“Allow me to lead an investigation,” Dal said.
“Into the Lion and Coyote Armies?” The King gaped at his warlord. “I have no authority to do so.”
“I'm not saying that we tell them we're investigating them.” Dal gave the King a heavy look.
“Espionage?” King Avamael gaped at Dal. “You want to spy on our fellow Sidhe armies?”
“Your Majesty, if the Farungal have somehow managed to get a fae or human soldier to turn traitor, it could risk every life in every army,” I said. “Now, I'm a new Hawk, but I've been a human for most of my life and I can tell you that there are ways to sway us. What if the Farungal abducted someone's wife or child? They could use them to force that soldier into betraying us.”
The King sat back in his seat and let out a sigh. “That's a lot of what-ifs with very little evidence.”
“Which is the point, Ava!” Dal growled. “We need to gather evidence.”
“And what will you do, Dal?” King Avamael shot back. “Are you going to supervise this spy mission yourself?”
The Hawk Lord straightened and looked at me.
“Yes, you have your consort now. You can't go running off to your army and leave him here.”
“You were gonna leave me here?” I gaped at Dalsharan.
“You can't leave Kestria until you're trained,” Dal said. “But no, I wasn't going to leave if I didn't have to. I thought I could arrange it from here. I will choose members of my guard to serve as spies and send them into the Coyote and Lion camps.”
The King considered this.
“Sire, the stones asked Ravyn for help. Have you ever heard of such a thing?” Dalsharan looked beseechingly at the King. “We can't refuse the request of a beast soul—not any request but especially not this. If one of the soul stones believes itself to be in danger, we must save it!”
Finally, King Avamael nodded. “Very well, send your spies, but make sure they are not caught, Hawk Lord. If they are...” He shook his head. “Relations between our kingdoms could suffer for centuries. It could even lead to war.”
“If they are found, I will say that I acted without your knowledge.”
“Dal!” I growled.
He gave me a quelling look.
“I don't like it,” the King said. “But if it comes to that, your sacrifice might be necessary to save thousands of lives.”
“So be it.” The Hawk Lord lifted his chin.
