“You’re overcomplicating it,” Lady Cadence told Grady and Edaline. “All you have to do is treat him like an intelligent equal. Ogres are different from us, but they’re still sophisticated, complex creatures with their own culture, their own wants and needs—”

“Who’ve tried to murder the entire gnomish species,” Sophie interrupted. “Twice. Also stole the gnomes’ homeland. And tried to cripple the Lost Cities by forcing the gnomes into slavery. And allied with the Neverseen. And—”

“I’m not saying the ogres haven’t made mistakes,” Lady Cadence said, earning snorts from all the goblin bodyguards. “I’m saying that doesn’t erase the good in them—especially considering that the elves are not blameless either. We’ve compounded the tensions between our species by refusing to take any time to understand them. Instead, we try to force them to set aside fundamental elements of their society. Who are we to decide how they should live? Who are we to micromanage other societies and species?”

“When those societies want to wage war with other species in order to steal their land, I’d say they need to be micromanaged,” Sandor argued.

“No, they need to be managed,” Lady Cadence corrected. “The fighting needs to stop—but that doesn’t mean we can’t find better compromises. I met with King Dimitar and—”

“What?” everyone simultaneously interrupted.

“Oh, don’t sound so horrified. Dimitar and I have a long history, and when I heard he agreed to the summit, I asked if he’d let me visit his city.”

“You went to Ravagog,” Grady clarified.

“To what’s left of it.” Shadows aged Lady Cadence’s prim features as she fiddled with her Markchain—a necklace King Dimitar had given her to keep her safe during her years living with the ogres. “I do not fault anyone for the destruction. But it hurts my heart that no one has taken the time to consider what the ogres have suffered. Why do you think Dimitar agreed to meet? I’m one of the few elves willing to listen, willing to open my eyes—”

“Unless you count the Neverseen,” Sophie reminded her. “Did he tell you about that? How he’ll be meeting with Fintan? And how Fintan assigned him a test to prove they could form another alliance?”

“Actually, he did tell me about that. And I strongly advised him against it. You have to understand—Dimitar sees no other option. Many of the restrictions the Council hopes to impose through this new treaty will force the ogres to change their very ways of being.”

“And that gives him the right to form an alliance with murderers?” Fitz asked.

“Of course not, Mr. Vacker. Which is what I told Dimitar. I tried to help him find a different path. I’m still hoping the Council can create a treaty that brings peace to all of our worlds while still granting the ogres the freedom to remain who they are. But if that’s not possible, I hope the king will turn to something other than violence.”

“Like that’ll ever happen,” Sophie snorted.

Lady Cadence clicked her tongue. “You disappoint me, Miss Foster. I’d hoped you might bring a bit of compassion to this summit. After all, you’re willing to excuse humans from the many grievances held against them, aren’t you? And when it comes to violence, the humans have no rival. Yes, the ogres must learn to share this planet peacefully. And yes, they need to face the consequences for what they did with the plague, and any other species they’ve harmed. But if we insist on restricting them to a set of laws that would disrupt their very ways of being, we’re sealing our own fate. King Dimitar values elvin guidance—but only from those who treat him as a friend.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t want to be King Dimitar’s friend,” Sophie told her.

Lady Cadence let out a slow sigh. “And that is a mistake. One I very much hope you’ll reconsider, before it’s too late.”

“I wouldn’t hold my breath,” Sophie said, stalking back upstairs. “Can you believe her?” she asked Fitz as soon as they were back in her room. “She wants me to be friends with someone who’s tried to kill me at least two different times—someone who’s the reason Calla had to sacrifice herself!”

Fitz let out a long sigh as he sank back to the floor. “If it helps, I doubt she meant you should invite him to your Winnowing Gala.”

“Ugh, now there’s a mental picture I didn’t need,” Sophie grumbled, imagining King Dimitar standing among her long line of matches.

Then again, the idea of a long line of matches felt equally terrifying.

“I think her point,” Fitz said quietly, “is that the ogres would cooperate more if we didn’t treat them like they’re our enemy. And that does make sense. If the Council walks into the Peace Summit planning to boss the ogres around and put them in their place, it’s only going to make King Dimitar dig in his heels that much more.”

“Don’t ruin my pouting with your logic,” Sophie mumbled.

Fitz laughed. “That sounds like something Keefe would say.”

“Does it? Ugh, he must be getting in my head.”

“Not too much, I hope.” Fitz’s tone was teasing. But there was a heat in his eyes that made her cheeks feel warm, even when he added, “I’m not sure the world can handle more than one Keefe Sencen.”

Sophie’s heart was pounding so loudly, she only caught the last word of his next question.

“What did you say?” she asked.

He picked up their still-blank plan for tricking Gethen. “I said, what if friendship is the answer? Instead of treating Gethen as your adversary when you meet with him, what if you made him think you came there because you want to be friends?”

“I’d never be able to pull that off,” Sophie told him. “Remember, this is the guy I Sucker Punched in the face.”

“Oh, believe me, I’m never going to forget that. But I’m not talking about becoming BFFs. What if you asked Gethen to be our ally? Reminded him that the Neverseen have left him rotting in that cell for months and have no plans of rescuing him? And then offer a trade?”

“The Council will never cut a deal—and I wouldn’t want them to.”

“I know,” Fitz said. “But we’re only aiming for a distraction, remember? And what could be more distracting than getting offered a chance at freedom? Tell him about Wylie. Tell him we’re ready to do anything to stop something like that from happening again. If he makes other demands, pretend to consider them. You’ll have a Councillor with you—get Oralie to back you up. It doesn’t have to be real. Just convincing enough to make him think. Because the more he thinks, the more he’ll let his guard down, and Mr. Forkle will be able to sneak in and learn what you need. Think it’ll work?”