The Jongurian Mission (20 page)

“That it might,” Pader agreed, but they
’re only five, and I’m sure that we can convince Equinia to come along.”

“And we know that Fryst Bahn never really believed in that conflict,” Rodden added, “he may not believe in sticking with a lost cause.”

“That’s right,” Halam said, patting Rodden on the back. “Fryst would surely listen with an open mind to our proposal. After all, Hotham has always competed with Oschem when it came to the products of their mines. He’ll surely see the sense in a more level playing field.”

“The way that Jocko More and Iago Cryst were arguing this morning,” Orin went on, “leads me to believe we may be able to pull one of them over to our way of thinking.”

“Yes, there’s no love lost between those two,” Pader agreed.

“I think Cryst would be the easier of the two to convince, but it
’d be best to share our ideas with both men,” Rodden said. “I think that one will do whatever the other will not, so it’s a good bet that one of them will agree with us for no other reason than to spite the other.”

They all smiled and laughed at that, taking the edge off of their serious talk for a
few moments.

“Perhaps Whent Auro could be persuaded to throw his lot in with the provinces for a change,” Orin said, “instead of just sitting back in the mountains and watching us argue amongst ourselves.”

“It’s a stretch, but you can never tell what Whent is thinking.” Pader replied. “I’ll have a few words with him later this afternoon.”

“I’m sure Edgyn Thron will go along with whatever will get trade moving the quickest,” Millen offered.
“From what I’ve heard he’s chomping at the bit to get his ships sailing to Jonguria once again.”

“You can’t blame him for that,” Orin said.
“I don’t think anyone profits as much as he does when trade flourishes. Most trade goes by ship, and most ships sail from Portinia.”

“Aye, and most Portinian ships are owned by Edgyn’s family,” Pader added with a laugh, the others joining in.
The mood had certainly changed, Bryn noticed. As they thought of more men that could be persuaded to join their trade alliance, their spirits rose and the outlook brightened.

“So that
’s seven, half of the delegates,” Halam said. “We still need one more.”

The table fell silent as the men thought of who else could join them.
With just one more they would have enough votes to turn their policy idea into a policy reality. But who else could they convince?

“What about Palen Biln from Ithmia,” Bryn offered up after a few minutes of silence around the table.
“It seemed that during the introductions this morning that he received the most applause. If everyone has so much respect for him, then his voice will add a lot of authority to our plan.”

He looked questioningly up at the others around the table, and after a few moments of silence figured that he
’d have done just as well to keep his mouth shut. What did he know about this conference after all?

“That just might be the best idea yet,” Orin said, looking around at the others.
“Ithmia has never traded and always has stayed out of the conflicts between the provinces. If we can somehow convince him to go along with us, it’ll do much to convince the conference to proceed with our policy.”

“Even if he gives us a majority,” Pader added, “his voice will do much to assuage the doubts held by the delegates who do
n’t join us.”

“Very good, lad,” Halam said to Bryn with a large smile, “very good.”

ELEVEN

The afternoon proceeded much the same way as the morning had. Andor Flin got into a heated argument with Fryst Bahn over the quality of minerals produced in Oschem compared to Hotham, which seemed to drag on for hours. In reality it lasted a mere fraction of that before Tullin rose to suggest that they move to another issue, much to the relief of all present, including, Bryn thought, the two delegates themselves.

Next came a
n attempt by Willem Pritt to usher into the proceedings some of the same conciliatory tones that had been heard that morning between Tillatia and Fallownia. He began by discussing Duldovia’s vast wealth of products which came from the Duldovian Sea, and how in the past this often undercut the lesser products, in quantity, but by no means quality, he was quick to point out, of those coming from Allidia. Sensing some type of challenge, Klyne Surin rose from his chair to challenge Pritt’s words. For the next several minutes the two shouted across the table at one another; Klyne arguing that the Bargoes Lake produced goods just as good, if not better, than those coming from the Duldovian Sea, with Willem simply trying to assure everyone that he’d inno way tried to make that claim in the first place. In the end they both sat down flustered and frustrated.

After that exchange Jossen Fray had a chance to speak.
He began by suggesting that the delegates work in closer harmony with one another, but this quickly turned into a diatribe against the delegates sitting across the table from him. It ended when he began to speak of the superiority of the Regidian wood products, whereupon Klyne had to rise for a second time to defend the perceived sleight to Allidia’s honor and her substantial wood products industry. Again the hall grew silent after Tullin called for a halt to the discussion and both men sat down red-faced and angry. At that point it was suggested by the king that they call a halt for the day and reconvene in the morning. No one found any fault with those remarks, the first time such had occurred all afternoon, and the delegates happily rose to leave the hall.

“Well that sure went nowhere fast,” Rodden said to Orin and Bryn as they stood up from their chairs.

“Aye, that it did,” Orin agreed. “No conciliatory approaches this afternoon, for sure. It would seem that they’ve all forgotten how good they felt at hearing your and Millen’s words this morning,” he finished as Halam approached them from the table.

“They’re quick to remember sleights to their provinces from
twenty years ago, but easy to forget friendly tones just a few hours old,” Halam said, obviously frustrated with how the afternoon had come off.

Millen walked over to them.
“It appears that we have a couple of hours before dinner is served in the great hall. This would be a good opportunity to share our ideas with other delegates that may be sympathetic to our cause.”

“You’re right,” Halam said, “but after witnessing how things went over just now, I’m wondering how many actually
want
a trade policy to come out of this conference.”

“Come now Halam,” Orin said, patting him on the back, “don’t let the course of the afternoon dissuade you.
We had a good plan today at lunch and it’d be a shame to not carry through on it.”

Pader came over at that moment to join them.
“Feeling a little frustrated, Halam?” he asked, catching the last of the exchange between him and Orin.

Halam just looked up at him,
his words having hit the mark.

“I think we’re all feeling a little taken aback at how the afternoon went, especially after such a good start this morning,” Millen offered.

“I agree,”
Pader continued, “but we can’t let that discourage us. We have some time now to talk to other delegates before their entourages get a hold of them tonight and convince them once again of how right
they
are and how wrong everyone else is.” He looked at them all before continuing. “Let’s each of us try and convince another delegate of our plans before dinner. At the least, we can put the idea in their heads that some of us are trying to come out of this thing with a united policy. Word will spread, and some that we may have already written off might see our proposal as a chance to add their names to a successful policy.”

“It’s worth a try, I suppose,” Halam finally said.

“Good. Now this is what I’ve been thinking,” Pader said. “Tillatia and Mercentia are both neighbors. Halam, why don’t you talk with Iago and try to convince him to come along with us.”

“I’d not have the slightest idea where to begin,” Halam scoffed.

“Tell him that he can one-up Shefflin, or that you prefer his weapons to all other provinces’. I don’t know. Just talk to him so that we can get things moving.”

“Alright, I’ll give it a shot,” Halam finally said.

“Good. Now Millen,” Pader said, turning to face him, “you talk to Edgyn Thron.” He held up his hand to stop any argument. “I know that you two don’t know each other, but the way I see it, most of Fallownia’s grain is sent overland to Portinia to be loaded onto ships bound for Jonguria. Perhaps you can use that to convince him that it’s time for a trade policy and that we need his support.”

“I’ve nothing to lose,” Millen said a little uncertainly.”

“Orin,” Pader said next, turning to face the man. “Can we count on your powers of persuasion to move Dolth Hane over to our way of thinking?”

Orin tugged on his whiskers for a few moments, thinking.
“Consider him already ours,” he said at last, a smile on his face.

“Now that’s the spirit,” Pader laughed, and
the others couldn’t help but smile at Orin’s confidence.

“Alright, I’ll talk with Willem.
I’m sure that we can count on Duldovia’s support.” He looked around at the already thinning crowds still present in the hall, and then each of the men in turn. “We may have to visit some of these men in their quarters. I suggest you ask them to take a walk with you, anything to get them away from their advisors. This kind of talk needs to be man-to-man.”

He waited a moment to see if they all understood.
Certain that they had, he continued.

“We have about two hours to present our case.
We’ll meet for dinner to discuss our progress.”

* * * * *

Bryn’s stomach rumbled as he sat on the bed in their palace room. Rodden paced from one wall of the room to the other, his hands behind his back and his eyes staring at the floor.

“Well, I think it’s a good sign that they’ve
taken this long,” Bryn said, breaking the silence for the first time in nearly half an hour. “If the other delegates wouldn’t listen or just flat out refused the idea, then Halam and probably Orin with him would have been back in the room long ago.”

Rodden continued to pace as if he hadn’t heard, and Bryn slumped down onto the bed, further discouraged.

Just then the door opened and Halam stepped through. Rodden stopped his pacing and Bryn perked up on the bed.

“Well?” Rodden said after a few moments when it appeared that Halam was
n’t going to tell them what had occurred.

“It took some goading, but in the end the man relented,” Halam said smiling.

“That’s wonderful news
!” Rodden shouted.

“I didn’t think I had him,” Halam continued
, his face perking up with excitement. “I went to his rooms and it took quite a lot just to speak to him alone. He dismissed his advisors, and we talked. It was easy to tell him of the rancorous relations between the delegates; he’d witnessed it just as we had earlier today. So with that, I began to tell him of our plan to form a majority of delegates to vote in favor of a unified policy giving the government here in Baden more power to regulate the trade of the provinces.” Halam pulled a chair from the wall and sat down before going on. “He was much more reticent to go along after learning that Mercentia would have to make some concessions. But I pressed on, telling him that without those concessions, the same problems as before would come up again, and he would continue to have men like Jocko More as thorns in his side. He wasn’t convinced,” Halam finished.

“So how
’d you convince him then,” Bryn said excitedly, nearly falling off of the bed in his eagerness to hear the rest of the encounter between his uncle and Iago Cryst.

“Well,” Halam said, smiling at Bryn
’s exuberance, “what did it in the end was convincing him that he could make Jocko look the fool while he was viewed as doing the right thing for Mercentia and Adjuria,” Halam finished.

“That’s it?” Rodden asked, a bit surprised.

“That’s all it took. You see, Shefflin and Mercentia have a long history of dispute. It’s a wonder they both fought with each other at Baden,” Halam reflected before continuing his explanation. “Anyway, I made him realize that supporting a successful trade policy, and reaping the benefits for the Mercentian arms industry in the process, would do more for Mercentia than pointless wrangling with Jocko at the conference table. In the end he seemed to think that the news coming out of the conference would be all about how Iago Cryst bested Jocko More,” Halam ended with a loud laugh. “I’m sure we can count on his support.”

Bryn was grateful to see his uncle happy, especially after seeing him so frustrated just an hour earlier.
“Any word from Orin?” he asked when his uncle had finished.

“No, when we left the map room we all went our separate ways.
They seem to have many of the delegates spread out quite a ways along these hallways, so there’s no telling where he and the others are. I figure we’ll see them in the great hall for dinner.”