Weighs the offer from all angles, mentally scrutinising it like sheโs looking for a trap underfoot, barbed teeth and hidden pits and rope to yank you off-balance. Perhaps someone more canny and political might have blanched at the open-endedness of it and seen the catch. But Astrid is perpetually so fixed on practical things she can see and touch: can you eat or drink it, does it taste good, can you smoke it, will it keep you warm on a cold night. A bird in the hand, etc etc.
And these mountain barbarians value their deals — their word is their bond — so it isnโt in her nature to weasel her way out of an agreement and dishonour a favour owed, either. So.
She makes a decision. Spits in her palm, holds it out for a shake. โDeal,โ she says.
no subject
Weighs the offer from all angles, mentally scrutinising it like sheโs looking for a trap underfoot, barbed teeth and hidden pits and rope to yank you off-balance. Perhaps someone more canny and political might have blanched at the open-endedness of it and seen the catch. But Astrid is perpetually so fixed on practical things she can see and touch: can you eat or drink it, does it taste good, can you smoke it, will it keep you warm on a cold night. A bird in the hand, etc etc.
And these mountain barbarians value their deals — their word is their bond — so it isnโt in her nature to weasel her way out of an agreement and dishonour a favour owed, either. So.
She makes a decision. Spits in her palm, holds it out for a shake. โDeal,โ she says.