full share of taxes. Your plan will end in disgrace for our Emperor if the Virilans refuse to speak to our ambassador. And that isn’t all. Do you think the Capotians will sit on their hands if you take away their only source of income? They will renounce their status as our protectorate if you so much as try!”
“Let them try,” Tameto growled. “My cavalry has been sitting idle for too long!”
“See!” Forsey exclaimed, leaping from his seat and pointing a finger at the commander. “Our generals whine that we have tied their arms and legs. Just imagine what will happen if we let them act on their own understanding.” Tameto scowled alarmingly, but Forsey could not be stopped. “Get it through your bronze skull that the Heavenly Empire cannot simply declare war on whomever it wishes!”
“These knock-kneed advisors have clouded your vision,” Tameto said, barely controlling himself. “What is the purpose of the army if not to maintain the unity of the Heavenly Lord’s domains?”
Forsey gave a theatrical sigh. “If it takes explaining the same simple thing many times in order for our military to understand, then I will undertake the task. The Heavenly Empire keeps its disparate peoples together not with fear, but through them understanding the mutual benefits of peace, trade, and prosperity. We declared that we will never force a country to be part of our Empire, and that is the reason why the twelve kingdoms chose Herandia as the symbol of their voluntary unity. How many empires have arisen in these lands over the past two thousand years? And how many have disappeared, no more to be recalled by any man? All of them were founded on brute force. People obeyed them when they had to, but they rose up against them as soon as they had a chance. Our Empire is like a granite obelisk. It has stood for over four hundred years and will stand forever, for we are the first to understand that profit binds people closer than fear of punishment. You must see, Tameto, that we cannot attack Capotia, even if they refuse to recognize our leadership. They are not barbarians to whom the law does not apply. It would be treason against all of our empire’s ideals and a signal for our own provinces to revolt against us! Now think a step further. What if the Capotians turn for help to the Arincils, who have long cast an envious eye on our lands?” He sat down to catch his breath, but he was not done. “Ronko, you had best count the money we will lose if Capotia falls away from the Empire and the losses we will incur if we push our closest ally into the arms of our most dangerous enemy! No, my lords, a delegation to Virilan would be a stupid way to risk destroying the Empire!”
Uni’s head was spinning from everything he had heard. With no preparation whatsoever, he was watching as important advisors decided the fates of millions of people.
“I wish I knew who was right.” At first, Uni had been very much in favor of a delegation to the land of his dreams, but after Forsey’s impassioned speech, a sliver of doubt began to worry him. “Who do I believe, when each side has such solid arguments?”
“Forsey, you should hear yourself talk.” Dorgoe spoke in a soft voice that made Uni’s skin crawl. “Are we bound hand and foot by our own vassals? Is our Emperor nothing but a functionary hired to sit on the Heavenly Throne, prevented from taking a step in any direction because of some ridiculous conditions we might have signed ages ago with a band of traders who have the whole empire by the throat? No, if you put the matter that way, then there’s no way I can agree with you!”
The green-eyed man turned to the secretary of the imperial council with a trusting, almost intimate smile. “I have listened to you carefully, Forsey, but there’s one thing I don’t understand. Where did you get the idea that the Empire has need of allies? They are the ones who should be striving to please us, not the other way around. Everything you said about the ideas of our Founder and the ideals of our Heavenly Empire was correct, but we must not go to the other extreme of allowing small nations to become parasites.”
“Exactly!” Ronko exclaimed. “If you want to benefit from friendship with the Empire, then join it! The Capotians think they are smarter than us because they sit on our shoulders and tell us where to go. I wouldn’t mind being a vassal under those rules. They pay us tribute, but then we turn around and give it back to them threefold when we overpay for Virilan grain. What are we left with? Our peasants pay higher interest every year on their loans for seed, and when they lose their land they join the cabals run by the strong dynasties. After that, just try to collect taxes from them! Each and every one of them manages to get exemptions of one kind or another. If we continue to take good care of the Capotians for another ten years, our treasury will be empty!”
“If you’re looking for allies, I suggest you’d be better off talking to the Virilans,” Tameto finally managed to put in. “My men in the field witnessed the effectiveness of their weapons when we rode to the aid of a Virilan band that was being attacked by nomads. I should say we only wanted to ride to their aid. They were perfectly capable of repelling the attack without us. They are fearsome warriors, and their weapons are beyond anything made anywhere else. I have seen a bronze cuirass that was split in two, front to back, by a Virilan sword. The blade sliced through it like paper. It must have been an impressive blow, but just imagine the blade that could withstand such a feat without breaking!”
“Did you actually see this blade, Necium? You sound so confident,” remarked the green-eyed man.
“With my own eyes! The Virilan warrior must not have had time to remove his sword, so it was left in the body of the dead nomad.”
“What I’d like to know is the name of the rogue selling bronze armor to the barbarians against the law!” grumbled Forsey with a side-glance at Ronko, but no one was listening to him.
“Be that as it may, events are proceeding according to the wishes of the Heavenly Deity, whether we like it or not,” Dorgoe provided a hasty summary. “The Empire and Virilan are coming into contact, and it’s just a matter of time before we send a delegation.”
“I believe the time has come!” agreed the green-eyed man. “This uncertainty cannot go on forever. If we have an opportunity to sign a trade treaty, then we must do it now. And if, in fact, the Virilans are prepared to display enmity, it is better that we know it in advance. I vote that we immediately send a delegation with full powers to Virilan.” He slowly raised his hand, palm outward, as if warding off a wave of anticipated criticism.
As it turned out, there were no objections. Ronko and Dorgoe voted for the motion in a display of unheard-of solidarity with each other. Tameto indicated his assent a second later, and couldn’t stop himself from adding a bit of commentary: “We must see the enemy’s face, for perhaps he is an ally.” Forsey shot Dorgoe a look of hatred before turning away and raising his hand in favor.
Dorgoe was appointed to organize the mission. That surprised Uni until he recalled that the man had a silent position directing the Empire’s foreign affairs.
“Who do you recommend as the ambassador?” asked the green-eyed man.
Dorgoe spoke up brightly. “You won’t find anyone better than Ontius Sanery. He’s been on multiple missions to Mustobrim and to the Arincils. I’m sure he’ll find a common language with the Virilans.” He offered this suggestion as if the whole idea of the delegation had been his from the very beginning. Uni felt a little sorry for Ronko, who was being sidelined from a scheme that he had personally conceived of.
“I do remember him, and he is an experienced diplomat, but I don’t know about the common language. We will need an interpreter, and probably more than one.”
“We could hire one from the Capotian merchants,” Forsey sneered.
“Would you let them interpret for negotiations to end their monopoly?” Ronko interrupted. “These are matters
