15Chapter Three
Aveline's uncle led her downstairs to the lower parts of the palace for the war council. The young girl was incredibly curious about what was going to happen in this meeting. Before coming to Cataria, she'd never met anybody who wasn't from the Isles of Skrie, now she'd met about six-dozen Catarians, and was about to meet about a dozen other people from all corners of Evaren. She was particularly curious about the Me'erdizi, she'd heard that they had a dark complexion; their skin permanently tanned the colour of sand from the hot desert sun. She'd also heard they were a foul race, and that she should want nothing to do with them. These were only rumours though, and Aveline anticipated seeing if they were true.
After passing through several long hallways, lined with portraits and rich tapestries, they finally found the room in which the war council was being held. It was big, with thick stonewalls and curved iron brackets that held wooden torches to light the room. In the centre of the room, there was a large wooden table. Seated around this there were eight people. Two of the men had dark, worn skin. They wore black robes, and one of them, the eldest looking, had a small beard of thick, dark hair.
There were two rough-looking men in big woollen coats and animal skin hats, one of the men was extremely large, and the wool coat hardly helped his figure. The second man, the youngest, was lanky; he had an appearance of having grown a lot in a small space of time, which likely explained why the cuffs of his breeches were well above his ankles.
The last two people attending the meeting were women, which surprised Aveline. Coming from Skrie, she always though people in authority were men, she was learning quickly, though, that it was the women who had the power in Cataria. One of the two women was beautiful, but with a sort of exotic beauty, almost as though you were looking upon a flower you didn't know existed, in a colour you'd never seen before. She was tall with long, light red-blonde hair. She had an attitude that made it seem like she had to be the person in charge, but she also seemed like a person who you'd want to be in charge.
The last two people Aveline recognized. One was Her Majesty, Queen Lochielle herself. Aveline was pleasantly surprised once more; she hadn't expected to see the higher monarchy attending. The second person, Aveline wasn't thrilled to see. It was no other than Ferris Tavish. How is it that wherever she went, he always seemed to end up there? She still hadn't figured out why he had been so cold to her, after seeming like such a gentleman upon their first meeting. Well, the circumstances could hardly be changed now. She would just make sure she was sitting as far from Ferris as possible.
"Aveline, I would like to introduce to you Zahid, the royal Vizier and representative of Me'erdizen, and his assistant . This here is Duke Bergen of Chevsky and his aid . These two young ladies are Miss Esyllt of Dirchland and her assistant Sian," Her uncle recited, pointing to each person in turn, "And this is my niece, Aveline," he told the attendees as she curtsied. "Now, let's sit down and get this meeting started!"
"For the final time, we will not send you any more shipments! You have exhausted your natural resources, and yet you refuse to pay off your hefty debts with all the profit you make off your jewel and mining expeditions!" shouted Uncle Albert, shaking his fist at the Me'erdizi Vizier. "You cannot take if you do not give!"
Aveline had learnt less in the last half-hour about the war and the workings of Cataria than she would have if she had been listening to the kitchen women gossip about the Duke of Gods Know Where and his consort. She sat politely at the long wooden table, seated between the woman from Dirchland, Sian, and Ferris Tavish, much to her dismay.
"My Lord Vizier, perhaps if we were to cease your shipments, only until we would be absolutely sure that you would pay off your debts? That way your people still have a shred of hope, yet since we cannot possibly give away precious commodities for nothing, we still have control over our goods." It was Ferris who spoke, standing, facing the Vizier with a cold gaze. The Vizier's face turned purple with anger,
"Who is this child who speaks to me? You are hardly old enough to drink anything but your mother's milk! I will not take foolish advice from an infant!" he practically spat his last words, and slammed his fist on the table, making the jewel encrusted goblet teeter dangerously.
Aveline felt it was time to speak up. This Me'erdizi Vizier had been acting harshly and angrily for the entire meeting, and she had had enough,
"My Lord, you complain of the Catarian government, yet, yours is the one with the issue. Now, Her Royal Highness, Queen Lochielle, has been extremely generous in her gifts to Me'erdizen, sending you monthly shipments of food, wood, coal, and potable water. Your King has promised to pay his debts to the Catarians, and we accept that. Yet surely you can understand that we cannot send you anymore shipments if you do not pay off the debts for the last two-hundred forty seven! We are loosing valuable products and goods to support your country! Now, we are not saying that we will never send you anymore shipments ever again; we are simply saying that we cannot continue to support your country without payment! You have the means to pay, we know this. Why, just last year you earned enough profit to build an entire wing of the Me'erdizi Palace out of solid gold! Now you come here, insulting our countries representatives, when it has been Cataria that has been insulted. Do you think us obtuse? Simple-minded? We will not let this abuse of our generosity continue any longer!" Aveline stopped her rant, absolutely fuming. Ferris was standing, staring at her intently. Queen Lochielle was nodding her head in agreement, and Uncle Albert looked quite flustered. As for the Vizier, he looked about to burst,
"Your Highness," he addressed Queen Lochielle, "You allow you representatives to speak to a man of my stature in such a way? What kind of government are you running?" he asked sharply, "One that employs mere children? That girl is so insolent as to speak to me so rudely."
"My dear, dear Vizier, I shall tell you what sort of government I am running. This is the sort of government that keeps its promises, pays its debts, and stands behind its representatives to the fullest extent. Now that we have that cleared off the table, I believe we may discuss why your King is declaring war on my dear country." She spoke clearly, still seated on her throne.
"Why did you do that in there?" Ferris asked.
Aveline shrugged, and then replied, "Well, I guess I just really despise people who assume that because one is younger, they lack sufficient experience and knowledge to have an opinion. That and the Vizier of Me'erdizen is a royal pain my arse."
Ferris chuckled merrily, and slowly began to make his way back to the main wing of the palace, "Well, thank you for standing up for our country. I don't think that I have every met anybody so bold or stupid as to talk to someone of such high standing with such an audacious manner."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Aveline retorted shortly, with complacent smirk. Ferris shrugged off the comment, and walked away wondering why she had to be so critical of his every word.