Firefly Light

Chapter 18

The situation with Mercedia was a critical one, and a matter that required handling with great care. Contact and negotiations between them had to be started, but too large of a delegation sent to initiate that contact could be taken as an invasion. After discussions with the council, the general staff and Hamilton Otani, it was decided to send a small party, one large enough to protect itself from road gangs, but not so large as to be threatening. Two officers and eight horsemen should be sufficient to locate the Kingdom of Mercedia and give the message to their leaders that the Kingdom of Otania wished to talk.

Because his first mission had not gone well, due to his sister's actions, Joseph decided to offer command of the mission to Edmund. It would be appropriate to send his son on such an important diplomatic mission anyway. Edmund, of course, jumped at the chance and saw it as a way to vindicate himself. The mission had to be organized and sent on their way quickly. It would be autumn soon and he wanted them back before the winter snows. Two weeks after the return of the recon mission, Edmund and his band departed. This time to search to the west of the valley they had surveyed, in order to locate the leaders of the army that Keika had reported. They were gone for over six weeks and concern for their safety was growing when they came galloping back into Hamilton with news.

Edmund reported that they had located Mercedium, the capital of the country to their west. As they knew, the name of the country was The Kingdom of Mercedia. It was ruled by a king and royal family, like Otania. They seemed friendly enough, but they were also busy expanding their territory and were understandably cautious about dealing with a potential rival or competitor on their border. At least they seemed to be a civilized bunch with an organized government and standing army. Their people appeared to be adequately fed and showed no signs of abuse or maltreatment. His group was greeted with wary formality until it was determined that they presented no threat, nor were they the vanguard for a larger army following in their wake. From what they could make of the culture it seemed to be not dissimilar to that of Otania. They did not have electric power, unlike Hamilton and some of its surrounding towns, and it was clear that they were not as advanced as the Otanies, but as a people, they had held onto education, history and enlightened attitudes in these dark times.

After being detained at the first border town they reached, until the local commander determined that they did not appear to be a threat, they were escorted to the capital. There they met the king and queen, Harold and Patrice Leiter. Edmund explained that their mission was to locate the country where the group of soldiers in the valley had originated and to open diplomatic relations. The Mercedians were impressed to find that the king of the Otanies had sent his own son to search for them and ask for discussions about their mutual border.....and they were happy to talk.....but their population was expanding and they needed new lands, including the valley in question. No real progress was made on that issue, but diplomatic contact was established and the leaders of the bordering nations were now aware of each other and talking. After a couple weeks of being shown some of the country, Edmund and his party were allowed to leave and return home, with promises of continued contact, negotiations and a trade agreement, if possible. The Mercedians told Edmund to inform his father that they would be sending an official diplomatic delegation within days to establish an embassy and formal relations between the two countries. They asked for Joseph to do likewise so that communications between them could be handled by diplomats rather than soldiers.

As promised, within one month after the return of Edmund's party, word came from the guards on the border that the Mercedian ambassador and his party had entered Otanian territory and were proceeding to Hamilton under escort. This was the first official ambassador of a sovereign nation that had ever come to Otania since the plague and the citizens were excited. The city put on a big show for the arriving delegation. The warm welcome and the city itself clearly had a big impact on the party. In this world Hamilton was 'The Big City' and the diplomats had seen nothing like it. The Otani capital made everything they had in Mercedia seem plebeian and crude by comparison. They were introduced to the king and were shown to their quarters in the Royal Otania. One of the large rooms on the second floor had been prepared as the Mercedian embassy, where the new arrivals would work. They were amazed and impressed with everything, especially the electricity, lights, computers and phone service.

Chamberlain Parks was the primary Otani negotiator and things began well when Jefferson first met with the Mercedian ambassador, Maurice Latimer, and later animatedly declared to Joseph that he was ".....one of mine!". That meant that, like Jefferson, Ambassador Latimer was gay. The pair got along famously and were seen everywhere in the city together. Jefferson, apparently, took it on himself to show the ambassador the sights of the city and surrounding countryside. They seemed to spend more time talking in low tones and laughing at the local restaurants than locked in heated negotiations. Jefferson was especially jolly and sociable during this period. Although their diplomatic teams trailed along, it was clear that the ambassador and the Chamberlain would have preferred to make these trips without accompaniment.

But, despite being distracted by each other's company, they did manage to get a lot of real work done. It did not take very long at all for the first success to be a non-aggression pact signed by King Joseph and Ambassador Latimer, who signed for King Harold. This document, insuring there would be no military action between the countries, was quickly followed by an extensive trade agreement. Mercedia was very interested to see what Otania had to offer in trade and it was discovered that the countries had needs that could be met and materials that could be traded to the advantage of both parties. An agreement was also made for regular horse borne communication to be established between the two capitals. Agreements were made about the travel of private individuals and business people within the borders of the respective countries, as well as punishments for potential crimes committed by those travelers. Copies of all of the agreements made were sent along with the Otani ambassador and diplomatic team that soon departed Hamilton for Mercedium, to be presented to King Harold.

Once the relatively easy agreements were made, however, the talks got tougher in tone. Establishment of the official border between the nations quickly became contentious. The biggest sticking point was who would end up controlling the very same valley where they had first made contact. It was rich in the arable land, game and resources that both countries needed. They did agree that no one should move there until that issue was settled.

The ambassador inquired one time about the girl with the special talents that the Mercedian troops had come in contact with in the valley, but he was told that nothing about her could be revealed for security reasons. He responded that he fully understood and the matter was never brought up again. Keika kept out of their way, so that they could not see her eyes, and the diplomatic party members were escorted everywhere, so they never came into contact with her.

Despite some remaining and difficult issues, it was clear that working together was an advantage for two countries that seemed to have a lot in common. With the establishment of regular communication and mail, interested parties, especially merchants, who looked upon this as a great opportunity to expand their territory for trade and sales, started traveling the roads in the newly opened lands.

It was opportune that the two lands discovered that they worked well together, as the future held major challenges for both nations and they would find themselves bound closer and closer together in mutual support.