Chapter 917 — Three-Party Contact
Blade of Dawn · Page 3 of 4
She was somewhat thankful that during the Cecil Empire's most difficult period, when civil war was still unresolved, the various races of the Augury Tribal States had chosen to offer aid rather than exploit the opening; thankful that the grey elves of Mosswood had always dealt with people through commerce, and so had never come into conflict with this neighboring human realm. Yet even as she gave thanks, she could not help feeling uneasy.
In the end, though, she reined in every emotion that had no place in this moment, put all such thoughts temporarily from her mind, adjusted the muscles of her face slightly, and put on the smile most suited to the present occasion.
Byron came down the gangplank and set foot on the solid, steady wooden pier. Apart from his adjutant and a few personal guards, he had brought no one else with him—the siren and naga technical advisors had remained aboard the ship or in the sea; there was no need for them to take part in this contact.
The grey elf chieftain came forward, a faint smile on her face. Though small as a human child, her features were those of a full-grown adult, and she radiated the composure and bearing proper to a ruler of her people. She extended a hand to Byron, her slightly hoarse voice carrying: "Welcome to Whitefeather Harbor, General Byron—I'm glad to see you had a smooth voyage."
Byron extended his hand as well—two fingers—and "shook" Wenna's hand. "Delighted to meet you, Lady Wenna Whitebloom. Today is without question a day worth commemorating."
Then he turned his head and looked at the other non-humans who had appeared alongside the grey elf representatives. A dwarf in black armor, with a grey beard, came toward him—like a walking barrel forged of muscle and iron blocks. The dwarf extended a hand to him and said in a muffled, booming voice: "Paladin Brightstone, from the dwarven kingdom, greets you, human. I bring greetings from Forgehold. Your ironwork is truly fine."
Byron was taken aback for a moment, but soon understood the other's meaning: this was praise for the Curiousity, that cutting-edge experimental ship.
He broke into a smile at once and reached out to grasp the other's hand. "Greetings to you—we received word before departure that dwarf representatives would also be present."
"Forgehold is very interested in your 'restart the sea routes' plan," Paladin Brightstone said with hearty candor. "Frankly, your large mining machines are all fine goods, but a pity they can't be shipped to our side—it would mean crossing the whole Augury Tribal States and a ridge at the edge of our kingdom. But now that I've seen this ship, I think we needn't tunnel through that mountain after all—seven hundred years ago the Ansu people briefly did business with us by ship; regrettably, it had only just begun to show promise when it was cut short. When I return, I'll propose to the Forgehold council that we repair the ports on the western coast..."
It took no small effort for Byron to finally extract his hand from the other's grip, and in the process he gained a profound understanding of what "dwarven forthrightness" meant.
What the other had raised was in fact not part of his task plan for today—today's chief task was the Curiousity's maiden voyage test and the collection of sea conditions and coastal data in the near-shore region. The meeting at Whitefeather Harbor with the grey elf and dwarf representatives was more of a ceremonial contact, to announce the successful maiden voyage of the Curiousity and the formal restoration of the route from Northport to Whitefeather Harbor. As for further commercial plans and route development... that would require more specialized people to work out slowly afterward.
He believed Wenna Whitebloom thought the same, but the dwarf envoy before him clearly did not—the fellow's thinking had plainly already expanded to precisely how the western coastal ports ought to be repaired...