I kept my voice soft and addressed all three, “If you were at the table with me, representing Kondor, would you see Dire as weak? An easy kingdom to invade and defeat with little effort, if this treaty was placed in front of you for your consideration?”
Soren had the intelligence to nod once.
I continued, “As I said, the three of you will outline a new treaty. In it, you will demand high tariffs and stiff fees for anyone or any goods entering Dire from Kondor. All sales in Dire of any products shipped from Kondor will have to pass through the new office of taxation. We will not permit foreign products to put our local craftsmen out of work so we will tax them heavily. We will restrict all weapons shipped from Dire to Kondor, and in return, we will prevent all weapons from Kondor to enter. Those foreigners will not carry weapons in our kingdom.”
Their faces turned ashen. My demands were as if Dire maintained a huge army, navy, and trade surplus. In truth, our army was small. We had no navy, our trade with other kingdoms was minimal. Dire was all but isolated by the geography of our land.
“You will express in bold writing at the beginning, that this treaty in no way contradicts the existing mutual defense treaties we have with the Kingdom of Angor and the Concordance of Palladium. However, if Kondor wishes our support to protect her borders as she protects ours, we will consider it at a later time. As a mutually defensible treaty, Kondor will consider any aggression on Dire as one on her soil, and of course, the reverse is true.”
They were stunned.
Soren said with a raspy voice, “That changes it all. The existence of those treaties was unknown to us. I have never even heard of Angor or Palladium.”
“They are across the sea and beyond the mountains that surround Dire.”
“I-I thought the mountains were impassible.” His voice trembled.
“You’ve lived in Dire your entire life and are not sure of that? And you have never heard of either, yet you are a chief scribe?”
“No, my Princess.”
I snapped, “What about you two?”
They shook their heads. They did not know of those kingdoms, yet, neither denied the existence of the mythical kingdoms or the treaties I’d lied about. No such places or treaties existed. I was both elated and disappointed.
Soren said, “May we see copies of the other treaties so that we can align this with them?”
“Do you suppose I brought them with me packed among my undergarments? That was one of your tasks, to bring relevant documentation and it seems you’ve failed. My father appointed the three of you to provide me with the outline of a new treaty, and yet you didn’t bother to research the existing treaties we already have in place? Very disappointing.” My tone was still level, but arms were crossed over my chest as I stared them down.
Their faces fell further. Tears appeared in Lady Grace’s eyes. She mumbled something that sounded like, “I’m sorry.”
I drew in a breath and gave them a few instants to think about their situation. Then I continued almost cheerily, “Okay, here is what you are going to do. You will begin a new draft. By the end of today, I will have a working draft in my hand as I’ve outlined. So that I may give up a few sacrificial items during the actual negotiations, you will include several of them, also. I don’t care what they are, even if you have to invent them, but if they are not excluded by Kondor, I want them beneficial to Dire.”
They retreated, almost defeated. I might have had sympathy if I hadn’t read the dribble they were prepared to send me with to face Kondor. Will was right. My anger rose.
I left my cabin in a whirl of rage, coupled with elated and optimistic surges of emotion. While I didn’t know all the answers, I at least knew what questions to begin asking. I was happy that even my staff had believed my lies about the mythical lands of the Kingdom of Angor and the Concordance of Palladium. They didn’t exist. However, if the residents of Dire didn’t know their existence was a lie, how would those in far-off Kondor? I needed to have substance to present to Kondor, and the belief that Dire had two other Kingdoms ready to defend her would help against any aggression or plans they might have to invade.
If I’m caught in the lie? I nearly stumbled out the door on to the ship’s deck. The motion of the ship had abruptly changed. The lean of the ship had increased. I imagined everything in my cabin sliding across the floor to one side. Again, I wondered about getting caught in a lie. It wouldn’t be the last time.
I gripped the railing and promised myself it wouldn’t happen. My people, the people of Dire, believed me. The wind was stronger, and I made my way down the rail while searching for Will. Instead, the ship’s purser emerged from an interior passage, paused after he latched the door against the stiff wind, and turned his head as he searched for something. That “something” must have been me because he headed right at me, nearly running in his determination to speak. His smile was the first I’d seen.
“Princess, have you heard?”
“Heard?”
He pointed. My eyes automatically followed his finger. It wasn’t what I saw, but what I didn’t. There was no line of dark clouds and flashing lightning along the horizon. Quickly, I oriented myself to be sure I faced south.
“The storm. It suddenly went away. One minute it was there, and the next it was gone. We’ve already turned south.”
“The captain sent you to tell me that?”
“He did.”
“Offer my thanks and keep me informed. Please request the captain to inform me of any changes as we sail to Vin.” I held his eyes as I talked, excited as a puppy with a new toy. My manner was not unpleasant, but the purser knew what I wanted. I hadn’t asked so much as informed the purser of what my demands were and what I expected.
My point being, I didn’t have to be rude to be decisive. However, I did need to impress upon people the fact that they needed to heed my wishes as if they were direct orders. I turned back to the rail. Now I had to look past the bow of the ship to see what lay south, as it should be.
Kendra’s name leaped into my mind. There had been rumors while we traveled together, rumors about her that I couldn’t believe. When I’d gone to Crestfallen for help, even more rumors emerged. Some were authenticated, and still hard to believe. The most disturbing was that she had somehow freed a true-dragon from chains and then used it to destroy the city of Mercia that clung to the side of a cliff between waterfalls. It had always been considered a magical place.
Several mages lived there, almost as many as were in Crestfallen. Wyvern flocked to the air above. Tales were whispered by servants and had been for generations. That is until my personal servant, and best friend visited Mercia and destroyed it, by using a dragon, the tales said. Kendra had somehow acquired a true-dragon? A creature she didn’t know existed weeks ago?
While those stories were unbelievable, other rumors told of her killing people who were trying to kill my father and overthrow the crown. They even had a double to replace the king.
A dragon had landed on their building in the Port of Mercia and smashed the building to splinters, along with the occupants. No other buildings were destroyed at the port, just the one. They were the sort of wild rumors usually heard on dark nights that were told by older children to scare or impress the younger ones. The problem was, they seemed to be true.
My servant and best friend destroyed a city with her pet dragon.
There was a whispered name of a Dragon Queen that was rumored to be Kendra, but more recently that name had become Dragon Tamer, and that name-change better fit Kendra. She didn’t wish to be queen, nor to step on my toes or our relationship. That she somehow told a dragon what to do should have been harder to believe—but was not.