"I'm gonna sue for my inheritance!" Lark's head was high, chin defiant.
Dawnwatch and Windburrow exchanged a glance. They had already been here in Light Hawking's personal quarters when Lark barged in. Hawking attempted to exchange a similar glance with Chessie, but she was giving Lark her full attention.
So he leaned against the old table that served for his desk and looked to Lark as well. "...and what does that mean?"
Able took a breath both to steel himself and explain. "Starting at the age of twenty, princes deep into the line of succession are encouraged to withdraw their claim in exchange for holdings. The practice reduces the chances that an emperor's sons will fight each other and divide up the realm once he has died."
Hawking raised his eyebrows and looked to Lark again. "So, you want to sue your father, the king, and make Borealund your holding? Is this what you mean to do?"
"Yes!" Lark flashed a manic grin. She was trembling in her skin. Knowing Lark, she was equal parts eager and terrified to do this. "If I can exchange my claim for Borealund, I could stop the reinforcements entirely. Order the enforcers to stand down. There'd be no need to march or anything else!"
Chessie's was the only mouth that did not drop open. Dawnwatch's was the only one that produced sound.
"Blackbird, you know we all call you that so we can admire your spunk and prowess without reminding ourselves what you really are, don't you?"
Windburrow jolted with affront. "Speak for yourself!"
"Fine." He stepped forward and jabbed his finger into Lark's chest. "I did not spend the prime years of my life fighting off your father only to submit to you ruling over me now."
Lark wrinkled her nose but did not budge. "That's not what I mean to do. I'd use my position as a buffer between Borealund and the designs of the crown."
"Call it pumpkin pudding!" Dawnwatch made himself louder and taller as if that should add to his argument. "It's still Larbant rule!"
"It's not a perfect solution," Able broke in with a step closer to Lark. "But yours is torching your own cities, so let's keep an open mind for one damn minute."
It was neither surprising nor impressive that the warmonger rounded on him. "This is what comes of letting Banders in here! Who knows what—" and that was as far as he got before Lark's hand shot up to grasp his collar bone.
"You leave him be." She—he?—locked eyes with Dawnwatch while he squirmed and hissed.
"Stand down, both of you," Hawking said. "You can take it outside if you're still up for it when we're done discussing." He watched Dawnwatch snort and retreated to the edge of the room before leaning back and folding his arms. "As I would like to know how you expect this to work, yes."
"The first hurdle is we'd need Impetus to recognize Lark for his son Plaudit," Able said. "The second is he might come at the demand with a counteroffer. Lark can refuse, I believe, and insist on Borealund, but the process would cost all of you valuable time. But I expect that with a competent legal team, that won't be much of an issue. Impetus may have wanted to discredit his brother's bastard, but if the situation here devolves too much, he risks discrediting himself. From there, a principality has considerably more autonomy than any other sort of territory, but what concessions we can get in the treaty ultimately will depend on our negotiation capacity. Again...we will need a good lawyer."
"Larbant rule," Dawnwatch huffed from where he had taken a seat in the nearest thing the earthen hollow had to a corner.
Windburrow heaved a sigh. "He's not wrong. We'd still be imperial subjects, wouldn't we? Beholden to imperial obligations? You're asking us to, well, surrender to Lark." She wasn't wrong either.
"I understand how that feels," Lark said, fists trembling at her sides. "I don't like this any more than you do. But..." She turned to Hawking, tears threatening in her eyes. "Like Able said, you want to march on Fairbanks. Please, reconsider. We could spare so many lives!"
Hawking stared back beneath his furrowed brow. His lips quivered every other moment, but he had no response yet.
"I'm in," Chessie announced plainly. No one replied, but she looked about at the stares she was collecting and got the gist. "Well, of course, I have to go. General Pillar thought bringing Lark back was my aim all along. It would hurt our chances if he doesn't see me again. And I'd like to bring Flower, too. She's quite attuned to the needs of the townships and can help with negotiations."
Hawking frowned deeply. "...you want to take my mother to Larbantry? To the capital of Larbantry?"
"Yes, and I expect she'll agree."
"Yeah, I do too," he groused.
Chessie ignored this and tapped her lip thoughtfully. "Hm, and for a lawyer...Contemplative Darkshoal from Pearlshore. He's been versing himself in Larbant law, trying to help those who've gotten into trouble with it. He'll be a big help."
Hawking ran a hand over his face and beard. "You really sense this is the way?"
"Yes." She nodded once, then met Able's eyes. "Lionstone is still the how, and Able still holds the key."
Able could have strangled her. And given how Dawnwatch rolled his eyes and Windburrow rubbed hers, maybe he wasn't the only one. Yet they also maintained a deferential silence. Chessie didn't even bother to look at their faces. Damn her, but she'd just made the decision for all of them, hadn't she?
Hawking heaved a sigh. "Sure, I'll just go back in there and tell them..." He flung his hands up at a loss.
"The truth?" Able found himself saying. "Let your people vote on it? ...or would that endanger Lark?"
Chessie shook her head. "Better to bring them around to it."
Hawking only nodded. So things weren't quite so democratic around here as they seemed. Which could be for the best.
Still, Able opened his mouth. "Look, I..." Was it smart to be the skeptical Larbant? He pressed on, "The plan is possible, but there's a long line of hurdles between here and there. Just the—" Lark was watching him. "...the weather, for starters."
"Oh, don't stop yourself from saying the ship could get caught in a storm and sink on my account!" Lark said with a bright grin. Really, there was no use trying to hide things from her.
Able set a gentle hand on her arm with a sigh before looking to Hawking again. "Point is, you should have a contingency plan. Maybe several."
"To do what?" Windburrow said flatly. "We're without the Sons, and now we won't have Chestnut? And not even the Blackbird, to boot? Yes, I have really high hopes for any raid."
Dawnwatch grunted, possibly in agreement.
"But you have Light," Lark said.
Hawking barked a dry laugh.
"They'll listen to you," Lark insisted. "You still have agents coming in from the West. Bring the towns together. Send our people home for the season. Sneak into the ports and—and reach out to the Icewalkers up north if you must. Whatever it takes." Lark crossed the room to Hawking and took his hand. "I know you can bring them together and get them through the winter. I...I need you to. I need you to lead them, because—because when I come back, I—I can't make this work without you. I know I'll never be a leader of the free people of Borealund. It has to be you."
Hawking set his other hand over Lark's and smiled, bemused and sad. "I know you want me to believe you've thought this through. But Lark? They will despise you. I can't stop that."
"I know," Lark cut in then stared at the floor.
"Do you?" Hawking straightened from the table's side and touched Lark's chin until she met his eyes. "As much as they resented Adeptson, many people in this compound, maybe even in this room, will see you as worse. A traitor."
"Maybe they're right." Lark blinked back the gleaming in her eyes. "Maybe I never had it in me to be one of you. Because I can't, Light. I can't stand aside and let you all march to your deaths."
"No." Hawking shook his head firmly and gripped Lark's shoulder. "No, of course you can't. And that doesn't make them right. But many will resent you, and I can't stop that. I need you to know that."
"I do know that!" Lark impatiently sniffed back her tears. "I know it. But the important thing is they'll be around to do it."