Salazar tapped with his fingertips on the amber inlaids of his table. The wood in the fireplace was only glimming by now, and even the lamplight was hardly more than a dim. He had sat there for hours, with all his books and sketches giving him no diversion, nor the wine any pleasure. Those so-called negotiations with the Fyros were still martering his brain, and actually he sometimes thought it would have been better if they had the whole thing called off. That the Trykers - which, in the Matis' memory, were the initiators of this Water Route anyway - were seemingly not invited was bad enough; they would have been a soothing element in a discussion which steamed up pretty quickly, from the moment on Akenakos Naveruss opened the negotiations with the quip that they don't actually have to ask for permission to cross the Kingdom in the first place.
Salazar's heart sank in that moment; all discussions which went before that, not least at the Akenak, were suddenly thown over board by the Fyros. He really should have said in that very moment that this meeting seems to be either a misunderstanding or a joke with which he doesn't want to play along. Fundamentally, you don't crap on a table you want to eat from, and right from the start the Fyros were giving the impression that they didn't want to negotiate at all. Making them asking the Matis for permission was like pressing blood out of an amber cube, although that was the one thing which actually was pointed out already as a need at the Akenak years before. It didn't help that the Trykers were hardly mentioned at all - Salazar had to bring them up a couple of times - while Naveruss did draw herself more or less clearly as the organiser and commander of the trek, even trying to play down the Tryker's pride in something which the Lakelanders described as the greatest of it's kind, while Naveruss tried to sell it as a few merchants just passing through.
The whole tone of discussion had the Matis stiffen up quickly, but to Salazar's surprise, it was Filira Copal who was first enangered by the Fyros' attitude, while Filira Tapco stayed in cold blood. Salazar soon wanted to get out of all of this, as it was clear from the start that every voiced intention the Trykers had - to get the nations closer to each other - and every secret hope Salazar had - to restore affairs with the Fyros to a level which makes diplomacy possible again - were just in vain.
For the crossing, the Fyros were unwilling to offer anything at all, not even the official request for Matis permission, and therefore all the reasonable Matis requests were understood by the Fyros as unfair demands and humiliations. That stubborn and passive-agressive behaviour actually had the Matis ask for more than they would have asked for originally. Salazar half hoped during the discussion that the Fyros would just take another route. If only the Trykers would have been there at Almati! Their enthusiasm, as well as their pragmatism, would have probably cooled down the heat.
Salazar sighed. As a Filira, he had responsibilities towards the Kingdom. But while the Water trek would cross the Kingdom fairly soon, by now he was so fed up that he hoped he would never hear about it again.
Yet he'd given promises publicly and privately which he won't take lightly. And he won't break them. And who knows? Maybe ...
Salazar's heart sank in that moment; all discussions which went before that, not least at the Akenak, were suddenly thown over board by the Fyros. He really should have said in that very moment that this meeting seems to be either a misunderstanding or a joke with which he doesn't want to play along. Fundamentally, you don't crap on a table you want to eat from, and right from the start the Fyros were giving the impression that they didn't want to negotiate at all. Making them asking the Matis for permission was like pressing blood out of an amber cube, although that was the one thing which actually was pointed out already as a need at the Akenak years before. It didn't help that the Trykers were hardly mentioned at all - Salazar had to bring them up a couple of times - while Naveruss did draw herself more or less clearly as the organiser and commander of the trek, even trying to play down the Tryker's pride in something which the Lakelanders described as the greatest of it's kind, while Naveruss tried to sell it as a few merchants just passing through.
The whole tone of discussion had the Matis stiffen up quickly, but to Salazar's surprise, it was Filira Copal who was first enangered by the Fyros' attitude, while Filira Tapco stayed in cold blood. Salazar soon wanted to get out of all of this, as it was clear from the start that every voiced intention the Trykers had - to get the nations closer to each other - and every secret hope Salazar had - to restore affairs with the Fyros to a level which makes diplomacy possible again - were just in vain.
For the crossing, the Fyros were unwilling to offer anything at all, not even the official request for Matis permission, and therefore all the reasonable Matis requests were understood by the Fyros as unfair demands and humiliations. That stubborn and passive-agressive behaviour actually had the Matis ask for more than they would have asked for originally. Salazar half hoped during the discussion that the Fyros would just take another route. If only the Trykers would have been there at Almati! Their enthusiasm, as well as their pragmatism, would have probably cooled down the heat.
Salazar sighed. As a Filira, he had responsibilities towards the Kingdom. But while the Water trek would cross the Kingdom fairly soon, by now he was so fed up that he hoped he would never hear about it again.
Yet he'd given promises publicly and privately which he won't take lightly. And he won't break them. And who knows? Maybe ...
---
Salazar CaradiniFilira Matia
Royal Historian
Member of the Royal Academy of Yrkanis
First Seraph of the Order of the Argo Navis