Aike was beginning to get annoyed. They kept their face neutral, of course, rather than expressing how much they were running out of patience for this meeting. The sudden return of the tall warrior did only a small amount to alleviate that tension, and Aike was fairly disappointed because at any other venture the joking (and mutually understood language) would have been a welcome relief.
As it was, they could only sit there in silence while the Taluvans chattered and sniped among themselves, and did their best to remember Grandmother's greatest lesson: Patience, patience, patience. Aike straightened their back and schooled their breathing, taking in slow inhales through their nose and exhaling through pursed lips. Beneath all the squabbling, they could hear several of their trapdoors doing the same, and knew tempers were starting to run very thin.
Once more, they held up a single finger, mouth in a tight line as they regarded the Taluvans gathered there.
"I did not say that. Chief Great Horned Owl, for all your years of wisdom, surely you can see the benefit of extending me the courtesy of actually listening to my words. I did not say I had more experience than anyone else gathered here. I simply bring you knowledge of how the Cortlan people will feel if I were to leave our borders completely unmanned."
It really would be so much easier if they could just see the Taluvans' damn faces. It was hard to tell what was going on in their heads, whether Aike's words were truly being lost in translation or they were all simply ignoring what Aike was trying to say. Which wouldn't have been so bad if they all hadn't collectively decided to put words in Aike's mouth, and it took a fair bit of personal reasoning to not assume the Taluvans were just mocking them now. Especially since it seemed there were more people versed in the Ketran dialect than they'd previously believed.
"I also did not say that you had to remove every last one of your patrols that could possibly come into contact with Cortla," they said, a bit more sharply now. "I said I wanted a promise. I want Talu's word that if I pull half of my soldiers into the mountains to cover the passes there, Talu will honor the agreement to not patrol our eastern border with the same fervor that we have both witnessed in the past. I am asking you for the courtesy of easing my people's fears once we have eased yours."
Aike stared right into Atsida's mask.
"Can I trust your word?"