"Do you have any enemies in the North?"
Annan found the visibly reluctant Ratfolk Elder.
"Plenty..."
The Ratfolk Elder had been so shocked by Annan's ambitions that he hadn't slept all day. His scarlet eyes fixed on Annan as if to say, You're one of them.
"Only among the Ratfolk Clans."
Annan didn't mind his attitude, but he did need to remind the elder to show some respect. "I'm offering you something to gain. Watch your attitude."
A sense of foreboding swept over the Ratfolk Elder. He had seen what Annan called a "good thing" yesterday... But what if this time it really was good?
"The Elder Council just gave me a dressing-down, Annan Thing. You'd better have something good." The Ratfolk Elder lowered his guard a little.
"First, tell me if you have any enemies among the clans."
After a moment's thought, the Ratfolk Elder murmured a name: the Gray-Spotted Clan.
"What did they do to you?"
It was simple enough. The Stuen Ratfolk were based in the Southlands; they had only sent a few clans to operate covertly in the Northern Frontier.
The Gray-Spotted Clan was his rival there. They had traded blows for years, and only his achievements in the Broken Mountains kept him ahead.
The Ratfolk Elder probably wasn't telling the whole truth. When he said they had traded blows, he likely meant the other side had been pushing him around all along.
But that didn't matter. The more he hated them, the deeper he would get involved.
At last, Annan told him the benefit he was so eager to hear about. "The Red-Eye Clan was wiped out, but my people rescued its Rat King and brought him over to our side."
The Ratfolk Elder's scarlet eyes lit up. "You're giving him to me?"
"How would