“I want a briefing in my office right now,” Sou said, swiftly turning and heading in that direction. “Send a driver to collect the Ambassador, but stall him at the airport. Create a traffic jam if you can possibly manage it. Anything to buy us a few extra minutes before he gets here.”
“As you wish.” With a bow, he hurried off, leaving Ryu and Elise standing with matching expressions of bewilderment on the stairs outside the palace.
◊◊◊
By mid afternoon, Ryu had developed a whole new respect for his father’s skills as a negotiator. For all that he’d disagreed with the king’s decisions on Nalmaga, and on plenty of other minor issues in the past few months, his patience and persistence in dealing with their current visitor had won Ryu’s admiration, where Ryu himself would have been tempted to simply order for the man to be beheaded. But one of the conditions for Ryu being allowed to sit in on this set of meetings was that he was there simply as an observer – which, in this instance, Ryu had to agree had been a good call.
The Arctesian ambassador, a middle-aged man by the name of Fredrik, was an entirely slimy sort of person. He was an alpha and had apparently decided that Ryu was an omega, for all that his gender was well known on the international stage. He’d spent half the meeting ignoring him entirely,and the other half shooting him subtle leers. At one point, he’d even loosened his tie to allow his scent glands to show – a move that was titillating when done between interested partners in a night club, but completely inappropriate in a formal political meeting. Fortunately, he’d followed traditional business protocol and doused himself in cologne, so at least Ryu didn’t have to be assaulted by whatever lecherous scent he was emitting.
But aside from being a complete ass, he was also proving entirely uncooperative on the political side of things.
“You must understand,” Fredrik was saying, “Arctesia has a completely different climate from Galandeen. The mountains are covered in snow for nine months of the year, and what farmland we have is far too valuable for food production to consider resettling thousand of refugees on it. We’ve already taken in over five hundred people, and by all reasonable measures, that’s the limit of our capacity.”
King Sou’s frown grew deeper. “The war in Biermarg is only showing signs of getting worse,” he said. “There are already thirty thousand refugees living in the camps, and that number is growing by the day. The rebels have started infiltrating the southern-most camps and are putting more and more civilian lives at risk. Goddess only knows what’s going to happen if they manage to reach the capital.”
“I’m well aware of the political situation,” the ambassador said. “But as I’ve stated time and again, Arctesia has neither the space to settle more refugees, nor the agricultural capacity to be sending large quantities of food to the camps. In order to end the conflict, Biermarg must find a way to settle its own political disputes.”
“If food production is your concern,” Sou said, trying a different tack, “then consider that Arctesia has many other industries capable of assisting the aid effort. You excel at producing electronics. Surely that could be-”
“I very much doubt that the refugees would welcome shipments of televisions or electric coffee machines,” Fredrik said with a chuckle. “There’s no electricity in the camps, and as far as the civilian population goes, attempting to help them in such a laughable fashion would only add insult to injury.”
Watching on silently, Ryu firmly reminded himself not to glare at the man. The ambassador was being deliberately obtuse, the tactic obviously designed to obstruct any further effort to gain their cooperation. Aside from the standard electronic gadgetry, the Arctesians also manufactured solar panels and wind-powered water pumps, not to mention their state-of-the-art medical equipment. Any of those items could make a material difference in assisting the refugees.
But he held his tongue. He was there to observe, and if he wanted to be invited to more meetings like this, he’d have to prove that he wasn’t going to cause a scene.
“Galandeen is sending a shipment of medical supplies to Darimidian,” Sou said next, naming Biermarg’s northern-most city, and a place where thousands of refuges had fled to. “If you could send a container or two of supplies as far as Almark, we could arrange to have it transported the rest of the way.” Perhaps by flaunting Galandeen’s efforts to assist, Arctesia might be shamed into doing a little more?
“That’s very generous of you,” Fredrik said, giving Ryu another quick flash of his scent glands. “I’ll be sure to raise it with the Foreign Minister when I return.” He sat there beaming, as if he’d just made an enormous concession, when in fact, he’d agreed to do nothing.
“Perhaps we should have a thirty minute recess,” Sou suggested, after an awkward pause. “I’ll have some refreshments brought in for you and your advisors.” He nodded politely to the three betas sitting rigidly in their chairs, none of them having said a single word since the meeting had begun. “And if you’ll excuse me for a moment, I wish to consult with my own advisors.”
He stood up, not waiting for Fredrik’s agreement. Ryu, Danag, and the two nobles who’d been invited to assist with the negotiations all stood up and followed him, retreating to the far end of the spacious hall.
“Well,” Danag said, once they were well out of earshot. “That was about as successful as trying to eat soup with a butter knife.”
“Arctesia’s President is making it clear that they’re not willing to put themselves out for the sake of international relations,” Lady Iuma said. She was a beta in her late forties, well versed in the subtleties of Arctesian politics. She’d been studying the country for the last decade, and making her discoveries useful as King Sou’s advisor. “It’s not just Biermarg that they’re snubbing,” she pointed out. “This is as much a slight against Galandeen as it is against them.”
“Why would Arctesia go out of its way to make enemies of its nearest neighbours?” Ryu asked. He figured that here, with only their own advisors around, he could get away with asking a few questions.
“A miscalculation of power,” Danag said. “They don’t want the burden of assisting other nations and have somehow decided they have enough military might or trade potential that they don’t need to rely on our support either.”
“Whether or not it’s a miscalculation remains to be seen,” Sou said. “Historically, they haven’t had the strength to go it alone, but with their current President shaking things up, it’s hard to know exactly what’s going on behind the scenes. Still, I’d like to push them a little more. Perhaps we should call Elise in?”
“An excellent idea,” Danag agreed, but Lady Iuma was less enthusiastic.
“I doubt even the queen could turn this one around. But at least she might be able to dig a little deeper and see how certain they are of their own strength. Let’s do it, but don’t hold your breath about the result.”
Sou nodded, then glanced at Ryu. His son’s baffled frown was not lost on him.
“Let me talk to Ryu for a moment,” Sou told the others, and they obediently moved away, giving them a moment of privacy.
“What’s going on?” Ryu asked, once they’d gone. Whatever it was, it was a sure bet he wasn’t going to like it. “Why would you bring Mum into this?”
“I’ll explain that in a moment. But firstly, I just want to say you’ve been extremely patient, putting up with that man’s uncouth behaviour,” his father said. “His indiscretions have not gone unnoticed, I can assure you. But one must learn to pick one’s battles, and unfortunately, we have more pressing issues to deal with today. Aside from that, though, I’d like you to sit out the rest of the evening. You won’t be missing anything,” he added, at Ryu’s dismayed look. “Ultimately, these talks are a complete waste of time. Arctesia is not going to assist with the war, either by helping the refugees or by sending soldiers to quell the fighting. This is just a lot of necessary posturing on both sides – on ours, to let them know we’ve got our eye on them, and on theirs, to prove they can’t be pushed around. It’s like a ritual fight between two rival animals; nobody wins, nobody loses. It’s just a lot of strutting and bellowing, and then everybody goes home.”
“Then why can’t I stay and see what happens?”
Sou sighed and patted his hand. Ryu did roll his eyes this time, the gesture irritatingly patronising. “With your mother joining us later, I can’t have you here as well. It would be seen as an attempt to intimidate the ambassador, and given his temperament, that’s just as likely to make him throw a tantrum and storm out of the palace.”
