“He asked questions about you, unfortunately,” Amaria frowned right after. “What is his fixation on you?”
“I’m a young Level 3, I suppose,” Quint said. “A person of promise in his eyes. If I am, he’s the only one who thinks so.”
“But you have risen to captain.”
“With a basement office? A captain who only interfaces with his commanding officer but none of her staff? I’m not treated as a person of promise. I wasn’t even allowed to ride in the coaches on the trip,” Quint said. “But I suspect I’d be treated no differently here,” Quint said waving his arm. “Except Colleto offers me a taste of respect in a country that has no hubites.”
“Why don’t you defect to the Gussellians? Would he give you a position?” Amaria asked.
Quint wondered if Amaria got her idea from her father’s spies or from Colleto.
“I’m afraid I have no affinity for Gussellia. Not that long ago Colleto was out to capture us,” Quint said. “If you don’t remember, I do.”
“I remember,” Amaria said as others came onto the patio. “You shouldn’t forget what you just said.”
The newcomers were Gussellians, strangers to Quint. They moved chairs away from him and whispered amongst themselves. That was confirmation there would be no difference in Quint’s day-to-day life in another willot country.
The following day, Quint assembled with the rest of the delegation for a joint breakfast with the Gussellian negotiators. Both Pacci Colleto and Lucheccia attended the meal. When breakfast was cleared, the dining room became the negotiation hall.
Colleto welcomed the Racellians and asked what they had come to negotiate.
“Peace,” Lucheccia proclaimed. “Withdrawal from Racellian lands and a pledge not to invade Racellian lands.”
“I seem to recall that at the time, you had invaded Gussellia. The battle that Lieutenant Baltacco and Captain Tirolo witnessed was fought on Gussellian territory. We didn’t bring the war to you, but you brought your warring ways to us. I think it would be appropriate to claim reparations for Gussellian lives lost. A tiny slice of your country seems inadequate to what Gussellia suffered.”
Quint was surprised that hard lines were being established so early in the meetings. He didn’t know if that was standard practice in a negotiation of this kind.
“Our army was wiped out, almost to the man,” Lucheccia said. “If we wish to talk about reparations…”
Colleto held up his hand. “I do wish to talk about reparations, but not about defending ourselves against Racellian aggression.”
The opening statements were the most benign of the interchange. The participants on both sides looked on with surprise on their faces. Quint wrote a few notes. It was clear to him that Colleto wasn’t serious about negotiating, and Lucheccia was taken aback by Colleto’s stance. It seemed to him that Colleto’s pressing the invasion in every response was consistent with his desire to invade Racellia. Why were they even meeting if there was no hope of an agreement? Was Quint missing something?
“I will reserve the right to seek redress for your invasion in any way I see fit,” Colleto said.
“But we both desire peace,” Lucheccia said.
Colleto gave the foreign secretary half a smile, almost a smirk. “It is you who desire peace. It is you who have come to Nornotta, not the other way around.”
“But your embassy indicated a few months ago that you were willing to talk,” Lucheccia said as if he had been knocked backwards.
“I was not the Dictator of Gussellia at the time. I make the decisions for my country, and I only recognize acts by the previous government that I agree with. I didn’t agree with what they said at the time.” Colleto smiled again. “But you wouldn’t know that. I will allow you and your delegation free passage to the Racellian border.” Colleto looked around the room. “I think the negotiations are over.”
Colleto bowed to the negotiators and nodded to Quint before walking out of the room followed by the Gussellian contingent.
“Is that it?” one of the negotiators said to Lucheccia.
The leader looked at the door that Pacci Colleto had used. “It is, for now. We’ve been asked to leave. The next step for us will be up to the Council. I will make sure Colleto knows we are interested in opening negotiations at any time.”
“Doesn’t that make us look weak?” Amaria asked.
Lucheccia glared at her. “It makes us appear to be respecting the wishes of the ruling sovereign of Gussellia. There will be another opportunity. There always is.”
Quint wasn’t so sure the next opportunity would be a negotiation, but he kept silent. Amaria blushed like she always did when embarrassed or caught in a lie. There was no lie this time.
Quint returned to his room and found an upheaval. Someone had been busy searching for something. As Quint put his things together, he was glad no one had discovered his hiding place for the string book.
He packed and the negotiating party left before lunch. Quint was specifically ordered to ride to the rear of the coaches with the prospects of life returning to the way it was before he was made Captain.
The party finished their journey in the courtyard of the Council Palace mid-morning. Lucheccia nodded to Quint.
“Make sure you truthfully put everything in your report. Don’t hide anything,” Secretary Lucheccia said. “Be on your way. You can keep the horse. Your time back at the diplomatic corps starts tomorrow.”
Quint had never owned his own horse before, and he wasn’t sure what Lucheccia had meant about keeping it. He tied his bags to the horse and rode to the flat in the international quarter.
“You are back too soon,” Marena said when Quint walked through the door.
“The negotiation never really happened. We spent a day defining how the negotiations were to be conducted, and then the Gussellian dictator sent us home after insulting the delegation,” Quint said.
“That isn’t good.”
“Not for Racellia,” Quint said. “I seem to have acquired a horse, at least temporarily. Is there a place nearby to keep it?”
Marena beckoned him to join her at a window. “That building is a stable. They give good rates for people living on this block. I’ll write a letter of introduction.”
Quint changed into civilian clothes, unpacked his bags, and removed his string book from its hiding place in the bag. When he flipped through the pages of the book a page fluttered to the floor. Quint picked it up.
