Ivor Mcdool's Arc

Chapter 3 of 5

The reply came four days later, carried by a rider Ivor didn't recognize. He broke the seal in his office and read the first line. The lord agreed to meet. But the message was addressed to Helga. Ivor found the rider waiting outside the tavern where Helga worked in the evenings, keeping accounts for the owner. Six mounted men in silver armor flanked the entrance, their horses stamping the cobbles. The display was meant to be seen. Ivor walked past them without acknowledgment and went inside. The rider stood near the bar, holding a folded letter sealed with red ribbon and the lord's crest. He asked for Helga by name. Ivor took the letter from his hand before he could finish the question. The rider stepped back but didn't leave. Ivor broke the seal and read. The letter was written in careful script, decorated with flourishes at the edges. It addressed Helga as though she were the one negotiating. The lord would be pleased to discuss the fortress and the land transfer with her at her earliest convenience. He looked forward to their conversation. There was no mention of Ivor. No reference to the survey, the surveyor, or the occupation of Holensnow. Just an invitation to Helga, phrased like a courtesy between equals. Ivor folded the letter and looked at the rider. The man met his eyes but said nothing. Ivor told him the message had been delivered and sent him out. Helga came down from the back room where she'd been tallying receipts. She asked what the commotion was about. Ivor handed her the letter without comment. She read it twice, her face going still. Then she set it on the bar and looked at him. She asked if this was because of what he wouldn't tell her. Ivor said nothing. Helga picked up the letter again and folded it carefully. She told him the lord was trying to force his hand by pulling her into it. She asked what he wanted her to do. Ivor took the letter back. He would go to the meeting himself, he said, and the lord could address him directly or refuse. Either way, Ivor would know where he stood. Helga watched him for a long moment, then nodded. She went back to her work. Ivor left the tavern with the letter in his coat and the certainty that the lord had just made this personal.