The kingdom refused.
The response arrived at Millbridge on the third day after Khao'khen's counter-proposal, carried by the same courier rider who had brought the Lord Marshal's initial communication, the return journey accomplished with the speed that the rider's professional pride required when the message he carried was of the kind that both parties knew was going to produce a significant reaction.
The diplomatic representative that the council had authorized would not travel to a town currently occupied by an orcish military force. The diplomatic office's letter explained the reasoning in the careful language of people who had spent their careers managing the appearance of things alongside the reality of them.
