Crescent (Old Version)

+ Part 47 +

I'd had the urge to bring notes. Or paper and ink quills to take notes, but I knew such a thing would be foolish. No other settings at the table had paper or books or ink of any kind. The table was actually mostly empty save for the map that extended six feet down and five feet across the massive maple-wood surface, curling toward the edges.

The thick aged parchment was decorated with whorls that outlined continents and separated seas. I don't think I've ever seen Crescent in such detail. There was a compass rose in the top corner and a legend with symbols of ships, mountain ranges in the north, desert sands in the south, deltas scattered through the main land, and other important markings. All elegant and just as astounding as the first time I'd truly seen a map of this world.

Of course, across the vast expanse of Vervale and its neighboring human realms, there was Ceth's crest. I was staring at the white seal when the doors to the study opened the party filed in.

Renly, who seemed to be the most avid advocator for all things spices, had already begun bickering with another ambassador and they both headed straight for the table arranged with high tea in the corner. I had already grabbed myself a steaming mug that sat in the corner of my setting though I waited to add any milk. Lotus biscuits, no doubt Janice's latest baking experiment, remained untouched on the plate next to my cup.

Few offered any greetings other than a simple bow in my direction and I took the opportunity to smooth my dress and sit. My nerves already twitched as I waited for Ceth to appear at the head of the table. I smiled greetings to the few who immediately took their seats, and though I acknowledged Thayer Astley when he politely bowed beside me, I thoroughly ignored his companion, who I felt throw occasional looks my way.

It was a dangerous game we were playing. One I couldn't afford to lose.

I vowed in favor of catching eyes with a glittering Audelia, who wore a more casual uniform and had swapped her golden hoops for a pair of dark diamond studs- so blue it reflected the same silver light my dress did. I fiddled with the mother of pearl buttons at the cuffs of my sweater, suddenly glad for the bit of warmth it provided.

Audelia smirked at me as she took the setting to the right of me and Thayer slid into the seat beside her. Thayer wore his usual grey, like Gabriel, and such a polite smile that Audelia rolled her eyes. I had to bite down my own grin. The pair obviously merely tolerated each other.

Yet, I reminded myself. They had both helped me when I needed it.

I let my nervous hands drop into a knot in my lap as we waited for Ceth. Late, but it seemed that no one minded when it came to him. My thoughts continued to wander back to Jackaby despite myself: "You're the only Lady in two hundred years to step foot in that room with the ambassadors."

Whether it would ever matter or not, history was in the making.

For once, Ceth's presence wasn't entirely unwelcome. Conversations halted when he entered the study, sunlight making the hair around his head glow, as he sauntered right up to his place at head of the table.

Dully ignoring me, we bowed, and all sat with him.

"Gentlemen," he greeted. "Ladies," he added with a curt nod. "Pacta sunt servanda."

"Pacta sunt servanda," the group recited the words back.

Agreements must be kept, I vaguely remembered reading in one of the hundreds of books I must've read about court by now. It was to be said at the beginning and end of any meeting of official capacity. It was even etched into the very iron of the table we sat it, which I could run my finger over if I dared lean over to Ceth as he spoke.

Was Ceth the kind of man to keep his word? I wondered as he opened a single scroll from the pile he'd carried in. A quill appeared in his hand and he unraveled the empty scroll as the meeting truly began.

It began with numbers mainly. An inventory of the things each realm was willing to trade or had already. Apparently, timber had already been traded between Vervale and Nexus from previous meetings past. Ceth had yet to offer anything of real value, from what I could tell of everyone else's inventory. Twiddling his thumbs, I realized.

Renly spoke for Lushwind, and he bowed his head as he addressed me. "Do you have a favorite piece, Lady Brenna?"

They'd all been talking jewels for awhile now. Ceth looked at me with green eyes that practically dared me to take a misstep. I responded, "I do. Two actually. Josephine Drakova's Pearls and Mombosa's silver."

Renly seemed to chuckle. "Interesting history behind those two, wouldn't you say?"

"That's why I like them," I quipped. "A strand of pearls forged in the darkest depths of the sea only to be found and bewitched by a Drakova Princess? And a necklace of pure silver engraved by man's oldest known language? The history is the best part about it."

Audelia piped up from the corner. "You mean, both of those pieces are in your possession?"

"Yes," Ceth snapped and then reached across the Maplewood table to pat my hand, to shut me up. Such a mocking gesture. "That and their sister collections."

"Meaning to say, you also have the lost Drakova emeralds?" Thayer posed next. Gabriel lifted a brow in question, though his face remained stoic, but I froze at the question.

The Lost Drakova Emeralds were just that: Lost. I don't remember reading about having them at all last night. And I'd surely read about every jewel we currently had in our possession. Ceth shrugged and leaned back in his chair, confidence rolling off of him in waves. "I'm sure Brenna would be happy to show them to you."

If Ceth had them at all. Gabriel stepped in then, no sign of doubt at our having them. "I assume Wolfsbane and Black Saffras are something you'd be interested in trading?"

I eyed the group, spotted the confusion on a few faces, and dared to ask: "Black Saffras?"

Ceth answered without looking away from the male, "A magical compound derived from wolfsbane."

Wolfsbane was poisonous to wolves, I knew. I could only guess that trading such a thing might be to develop an antidote of some sorts. But, what did wolfsbane, or Black Saffras for that matter, do? And why would Ceth be interested in having it?

"Seems fair to me."

The quill scribbled the trade onto the scroll without a hand to wield it. The first and only meaningful trade Ceth had made so far.

My gut told me to remember that particular detail. With what I'd found in the infirmary, the information I'd gotten from the witch, and the details I'd gotten from Ann and the other servants, I knew at the very least that Ceth was hiding something big. Any detail would be important.

The rest of the meeting, it would seem, was just as important, and I found myself logging details away in my head and watching reactions as people came forward and proffered goods from each realm. I watched Ceth's reactions, and I made it a point to keep track of who spoke and who kept quiet and watched. One of the only things I had learned from Ceth was that who didn't speak was just as important as who did.

My tea had long been drained to the dregs by the time we all stood to go to dinner. We'd briefly stopped around noon to stuff our mouths full of food before the debating continued again. While I had listened, I found that most of it was endless heated back and forth debate about miniscule details. Most of the larger pre-existing trade deals had been long established. These meetings were more about trading things Lord and Ladies wanted.

Of which, Ceth confused me endlessly.

Dinner passed quickly, and I'd found that sleep came almost easily. I was tired enough from staying up the night before that the nightmares only woke me toward the later part of the morning. My dreams, however, still seemed to tear further and further from the seam of reality.