"No."
Kael said it before Valen had even finished sitting down.
Most of the council had already left. The fire in the longhouse had burned down to a bed of red coals, and nobody had bothered to feed it.
"You haven't heard my reasons," Valen said.
"I don't need to. You'd be walking into a camp where a pointed ear is treated like vermin."
"Yes, I would."
Kael opened his mouth to argue, then seemed to think better of it. Valen didn't utter a word. He had learned that silence often did more work than argument.
"He's right about the danger," Thran said from his place by the wall. "But he's also right that a wolf-kin envoy would look like a raid."
Lira said nothing. She watched Valen the way she had watched Kael the night before he left for the valley, as if she were trying to memorize him.
Kael stared into the coals for a long while. "If they hold you, I won't send anyone after you."
Nobody moved.
