“So. Anyway. It might be that an advantageous marriage could be arranged that would bring the kingdom of the Fells into the fold.” From the look on her face, he might have just asked her to bite into a turd. “Queendom, Captain,” she spat. “This is a queendom. Your king made that offer to our queen more than twenty-five years ago. She refused him then, and he invaded, launching this war. Since then, Arden has murdered her husband, and her daughter, and”—she stumbled a bit—“and tried to kill her son.” “This is war,” Hal said. “People die—even innocents die, unfortunately.” It sounded weak, even
