The Jongurian Mission (21 page)

“Yes, well, speaking of dinner,” Rodden said motioning toward Bryn, “our stomachs have been growling at us for the past hour.”

“Aye, mine too. Let’s go eat and hopefully find out that the others have fared just as well.”

* * * * *

The great hall was as packed for dinner by the time they arrived, even more so than it had been for breakfast, Bryn thought as he looked around upon coming through the double doors. The revelers from the night before had obviously slept off their headaches and were ready to partake again, filling the tables to near-capacity. They looked around to try and locate Millen, Pader, and Orin, but it was nearly impossible to pin down three individuals with so many people moving about. After a few more fruitless minutes of scanning the hall, Halam decided it’d be best to head to a far table that had quite a few empty benches and let the others come to them.

They seated themselves and a serving woman brought over three glasses and a flagon of wine, as well as a plate of bread, cheese, and fruit.

“What opposition do you think there’ll be when we present our plan to the whole conference?” Rodden asked Halam as he filled their glasses with wine.

“Well,” Halam said after taking a sip, “first we need to secure enough support.
Without the agreement of eight delegates, I don’t think there’s any point in presenting the plan.”

“Not even to let the whole conference know that a plan is in the works?” Bryn asked.

“I’d much rather keep it a bit quiet. I don’t think there’ll be support from the provinces that fought against the crown,” Halam replied.

“But what of Equinia?” Rodden asked between bites of cheese.
“I thought that it was a sure thing we could count on their support.”

“There are no sure things when it comes to negotiations like this,” Halam replied.
“We could have eight delegates with us after this evening and present the plan to the whole conference tomorrow morning, only to find that half of them have decided to renege on their previous commitment and leave us hanging in the wind.”

“We
’ll have to make sure that we have their firm commitment then,” Rodden replied.

Just then Orin came to their table and sat down, waving to a serving girl to bring another glass of wine.

“So how did your conversation with Hane go?” Halam asked eagerly.

“It was none too difficult convincing him,” Orin replied as he reached for the bread and cheese.
“When I made it clear to him that by supporting our policy the surplus livestock of Equinia would be bought right up, he couldn’t come along fast enough.”

“It was as simple as that?” Rodden asked skeptically.

“It was as simple as that. I told Dolth that this would mean a central authority in Baden would have more power over trade,” Orin went on, his arms now gesturing in front of him as he told the story. “He didn’t seem to mind so long as Equinia was given a fair price for her livestock, something which has not always been the case before. No,” Orin finished, “I think we can count on Equinia’s support.”

“Great,” Halam replied.
“With Mercentia with us we have the support of five provinces.”

“So Iago agreed then?” Orin asked.

“He came along. He was a little reticent when he realized that Mercentia would lose some say over the matter to the government in Baden, but in the end it was the chance to look better than Shefflin that convinced him.”

“Ha,” Orin laughed, “I should
’ve known it’d be that easy.”

A serving woman came over to their table, a large platter of beefsteaks in her arms.
She set the dish down, and waved to a nearby girl to bring plates, knives, and forks to the table, while she grabbed the empty wine flagon and headed back toward the kitchens.

“Ah, I could eat a cow, and I see they’ve brought me one,” Rodden said, not waiting for the girl to finish laying down plates before he grabbed the large serving knife from the platter and began cutting
one large steak into smaller pieces. The others waited until they had plates in front of them, then they too jumped upon the steaks.

“Save one for me,” Millen said as he came over to the table and sat down next to Bryn.
“I never thought that negotiating trade deals could work up such an appetite.”

“Aye, that it can,” Halam replied between bites of steak.
“So, did everything go well with Edgyn?”

“Perfectly,” Millen said as he stuck his fork into a rather large steak and dropped it onto the plate in front of him.
“I think if you told Edgyn that the Jongurians were taking over the country with our deal he would agree to it, so long as it meant Portinian ships could ship goods once again.”

“That easy?” Orin asked?

“Too easy,” Millen said as he busily cut up his steak into smaller pieces. “He was just waiting for some type of coalition of delegates to form, he told me, so that a deal could be pushed through the council. The way things were going this afternoon, he was beginning to give up hope of ever seeing that happen. So you can imagine his relief when I knocked on his door and presented my plan. He happily went right along with it.”

“Splendid news
!” Orin said.

“And how about you two?” Millen asked between mouthfuls of steak.
“Did you manage to persuade Dolth and Iago?”

“We did,” Halam replied.

“Dolth was easy, but Iago took a little more convincing,” Orin explained, looking to Halam for confirmation.

“Aye, that he did,” Halam said. “But in the end I managed it.”

The talk around the table ceased as the men gave all of their attention over to finishing their steaks.
The serving woman came back with another flagon of wine, and Bryn took the liberty of filling the glasses. They leaned back with their drinks, satisfied with how far they’d come with their plans since the afternoon.

“Gentleman,” a voice said behind them, “may I join you.”
They turned in their seats to see Willem Pritt.

“By all means,” Rodden replied, moving over to make room on the bench.

“Pader told me of your plan to form a majority of delegates to present a unified trade policy before the conference,” Willem said once he had taken a seat.

“Yes, right now we have the support of Tillatia, Fallownia, Culdovia, Mercentia, Equinia, and Portinia” Halam explained.
“And we’d like to add Duldovia to that list as well.”

“I’d like to hear more of what exactly you plan to present to the conference
first,” Willem responded.

The men looked around the table at one another, not sure who should proceed with the explanation.
Halam put down his cup and sat up straight, locking eyes with Willem.

“We plan to tell them
that by supporting our policy all of the provinces will see their excess goods traded to Jonguria for them,” he said. “We plan to carry this out by giving the government in Baden more power to negotiate trade with Jonguria, thus removing that burden from the individual provinces.”

Willem shifted a little on his bench.
“Many of the provinces won’t take kindly to giving up more power to the king. They remember all too well fighting a war just a few years ago to take power
away
from him.”

“I understand that,” Halam replied, “but it
’s obvious to many of us that the provinces can’t agree on a trade deal that wouldn’t undercut each other just like in the past. It’s specifically because they did everything in their power to profit over their neighbors once before that we’re seeing all of these arguments”

“Yes, I understand that,” Willem said, “but I don’t think that
’s enough to convince many.”

“If you join us we
’ll only need one more province to have a firm majority,” Rodden said.

“A majority is one thing, but you must remember it leaves in its wake a minority; a minority which is often disgruntled at losing out to those it thinks opposed to its interests.
Creating a minority of province’s that don’t like the trade policy could lead to the type of problems the policy is trying to alleviate.”

“If we could have all of the provinces agree with us on this policy, I would be grateful,” Halam said, “but I just don’t see that as happening.”
He took a sip of wine before continuing. “Who knows, by now the word must be out that several provinces are working on a deal; maybe we’ll have a majority larger than just eight provinces.”

“What I’m afraid will happen is that the provinces that fought with Regidia against the crown w
on’t go along with the plan, and then they’ll just become further alienated from the rest of the provinces.” He let out a sigh before going on. “I’m not sure if Adjuria can afford to have those provinces seething with resentment once again.”

“I agree with what you say in that regard, Willem
,” Halam said passionately, “but I just don’t think it’s fair to Adjuria to let this opportunity to unite the provinces under a trade deal slip through our fingers just because we’re afraid a few people won’t like it.”

Adjuria cannot afford to be divided against itself once again
!” Willem said forcefully.

“Gentleman, gentleman, please,” Orin cut in as Halam and Willem sat back, letting their rising tempers cool.
“We all want what’s best for Adjuria, ther’s no doubt about that. Some of us just have different views on how to bring it about is all.”

The six men around the table sat without speaking for a few
moments before Bryn decided to break the silence.

“When uncle Trun and I ride into Eston for harvest days, we hear the views of the farmers and townsfolk,” he began slowly, unsure whether it was a good time to speak or not.
“Many of the people agree that it’s better for them to have a greater say in their affairs than the king in Culdovia, who doesn’t know a thing about what problems face Tillatia. They seem happy to have more power now, following the Civil War. But I don’t really see how having more power has made their lives any better.”

He paused and looked into the men’s faces around the table before continuing.
“Having more power in Tillatia than in Culdovia has not increased the price of grain that the farmers get each harvest time, nor has it driven down the cost of buying new livestock every few seasons. More power hasn’t helped put up new fencing or decreased the time or expense of moving goods from field to town to city,” he went on, feeling more confident as the others around the table perked up at his words. “I think the only thing that will address those issues is trade. Ever since I’ve been a little boy I’ve heard the people around Eston complain of how much worse things are since they can’t trade their goods to Jonguria anymore. Before the war there were twice as many markets for Tillatian grain, and we have a chance to make that happen again. I think it’s more important for the small farmers of Tillatia and others like them around the country to benefit from trade, than it is for the men sitting around this hall to complain about government power.”

He leaned back, finished with his speech, which proved much longer than anything he
’d intended to say when he began. The others glanced from him to their wine, knowing that what he said was true; and for the first time since the conference began, they felt truly foolish for squabbling over the issues they thought were important when what truly mattered had just come from the mouth of a young boy.

“Well said, Bryn,” Halam quietly said from across the table.
 

“Yes, Bryn, you really have a way with putting the truth forth,” Orin added, while Rodden tousled his hair, bringing a smile to his face.

“The boy does seem to sense what is important here,” Willem admitted, looking back up at Halam. “The arguments over power seem petty when put into the perspective of struggling families all around Adjuria.”

“Aye, that it does,” Halam agreed.
“So are you with us than? Will you stand by us when we’re ready to present our policy to the conference?”

“You can count on my support,” Willem said, rising from the table.
He and Halam shook hands, and then he turned to join the other Duldovians.

“So now we are seven,” Rodden said as they watched Willem go.

“Are we still planning to talk with Whent and Palen about joining us?” Millen asked.

“Those two still seem the most likely to me, but also the most difficult,” Orin said as he looked at each man around the table. “Montino has always prided itself on staying out of the affairs of the rest of the provinces, while Ithmia doesn’t trade anything, producing just what she needs to maintain the garrison at Fadurk. Both will be tough to convince.”

“We’ve got to try,” Halam replied.
“After all, we only need one, though both would be better.”

The talk ceased as they collected their thoughts, going over the various possibilities they could present to the other provinces in a bid to have them join.
The hall was beginning to empty once again, the delegates and their various advisors heading back to their rooms to discuss whatever plans they’d present to the conference in the morning.