“What’s wrong with your face? And this is disgusting.” She was in a foul mood, mad at herself at how she had treated the young man, even though she didn’t know why she had done so.
The traveler smiled, showing teeth stained black from chewing gratey nuts. “It is a delicacy that you have to grow up eating. And I’m assuming that you are referring to the tattoos on my face. Each one shows a man that I have killed in challenge to my throne.”
“Geez, that’s a lot. What land are you the king of? Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s not anything compared to my father’s!”
The man smiled at her, and nodded his head in approximation of a bow. “Yarl Koborg of Westheim at your service. We are but a small land, over the Western Sea, and I am here to talk to your mother about increasing trade between our peoples, and maybe an alliance.”
Wilma saw his eyes shift over to where her mother sat at the head of the table, and, with a daughters’ sensitivity, could see the desire in his look.
“Over Sir John’s dead body, I think” she said, looking to put him in his place.
He grinned at her and said “Hopefully not! He seems a fine servant, I would hate to kill him. But of course, I am merely here to discuss trade, and in your civilized land, a man must learn to stay his hand and get what he wants through words.”
Their conversation was interrupted by the Queen’s Agricultural Minister, who pressed Wilma to tell her about any details she could give her about that year’s harvest in Northumberland. Even as she tried to answer her with what little she knew, which wasn’t much, Wilma continued to watch Yarl Koborg out of the corner of her eye as he talked with Sir Franz, the Finance Minister. Koborg SEEMED pleasant enough, but she didn’t like the way his eyes flashed when he mentioned her mother, and how she caught him looking at the Queen. Wilma would make a point of talking to Sir John tomorrow at weapons practice. If anyone would know how to handle the foreigner, it would be him. Wilma loved her mother, but she could be so blind, sometimes.
Zombie Killers: AMBUSH: Irregular Scout Team One Book Six (Zombie Killer Blues 6) Page 11
