He looked at her for a moment with the expression of someone processing the gap between what they had expected to say and what had actually happened. Then he said, "Yes, Your Majesty," and went to tell Dren.
Five of Tarven's men were waiting at the treeline when she emerged from the carriage. They were not armed with anything impressive — two had tools that could serve as weapons if required, one had a proper knife, two had nothing. They were standing with the specific posture of people who had made a decision and were committed to it and were not going to discuss whether it was a good decision because the time for that discussion had passed.
She looked at them.
