by Robin Roseau
I translated, and Féla said, "Yes, she is quite clear."
* * * *
The children didn't actually want to go, but Vérundia talked to them quietly. Before they left, Féla asked, "Do you wish negotiations immediately or should we begin in the morning?"
"We do not know the time, and we have stopped caring," Juleena said. "I would rather see this done."
"You're under a great deal of stress," I told her.
"Waiting won't help."
Féla nodded. "We won't be long. Please rearrange the room while we are gone."
At that, she collected the acolytes and turned them to the exit. A moment later, they were gone from sight.
Immediately Juleena gave orders. She kept a guard at the exit that had been used, but she had several to move all the hostages to one end of the room, and then the tables were arranged almost as a barricade, one long table dividing the room down the middle.
"There is no promise they'll arrive the same way Féla left," I said. "And we promised to cede that side of the room."
And so Juleena called the others back so all the Framarans -- with our hostages -- were on one side of the tables.
The wait after that was short. Féla appeared first. She looked around for a moment, then called behind her.
Four of the guards stepped in, hands on sword hilts, and they spread out. A moment later, the king and queen stepped together. Behind them were the last two of their honor guard.
Both monarchs wore armor and grim expressions, and both were armed. The king had a heavy sword at his waist, but the queen's weapon appeared to be a rapier. I imagined she had once been quite good.
They crossed halfway to the tables and stopped, their honor guard spread to either side, Féla out in front.
Juleena did not offer them much in the way of respect. She stood, with a foot on a chair, only halfway turned towards them. She picked up an apple from a bowl on the table. I hadn't realized why it was there until now. She pulled her knife from her belt and began to peel the apple, letting the peelings drop to the floor.
"Juleena," I whispered.
"Quiet. They violated every hint of civilized behavior between countries when they took you, and I am letting them know exactly what I think of that. I'd send you to the back of the room, but I don't want to fight with you."
The king and queen noticed Juleena's attitude, of course, and they stared for a moment. Then they searched the room with their eyes, identifying the hostages, perhaps, and then stepped forward.
"Princess Juleena," said the queen in her accented Framaran. "You have invaded our country with an armed force. This constitutes an act of war. We will expect an apology and a departure. This meeting is to discuss one thing, and one thing only: reparations."
Juleena didn't even look at her. She took a bite from the apple. Then she said, "Queen Mesenorié. King Tradódid. We were willing to forego reparations after, through a great deal of deceit and treachery, you kidnapped a member of the royal family. But if you are offering, of course, we are willing to discuss it. What do you believe is a fair apology for such an egregious act of aggression?"
I looked back and forth between them.
"Not a word," Juleena said quietly in Arrlottan. "This is far above what you're ready for, Yalla."
"But are you ready? Are even they ready?"
She had to puzzle for the words for a minute, but then she said, "Probably not. We do our best."
"We demand an apology," said the king.
"Oh, please," said Juleena. "I'm tired. I want this over. Everyone here wants this over. I have no intention of dragging this out for weeks." Then she took a bite from the apple. No one said a word while she ate it, finally dropping the core and kicking it under the table. She brushed her hands off on her leggings then looked at them. "Your so-called maid offered a promise. I gave a gesture of good will, and she promised good faith negotiations. She suggested you wish a peaceful solution. We wish a peaceful solution. But she is only a maid, or so you might say, and she has no authority to speak for you. Are you here for good faith negotiations or not?"
"We are," said the queen.
"I need you to tell me you seek a peaceful solution, as we do. I need you to tell me you are not using this time to infiltrate your forces into these caverns. We are not looting. We have taken nothing that does not belong to us except food and water from the stores here. We miscalculated how long this would take."
I thought it was gracious of her to admit that. Perhaps that was a gesture as well.
"We are here for a peaceful solution," said the king. "We intend no treachery. Our forces hold every exit from these caverns, but only the ones you see have descended deeper."
"And as long as we are negotiating," said Juleena, "or agreeing to suspend negotiations for a recess, that will not change."
"It will not change," said the queen.
"Perhaps we could sit," suggested the king.
Juleena nodded, and it was like a dance, the three of them finally sitting all at the same time.
"We require Vérundia in these negotiations," said the queen.
"She remains on this side of the table."
"She should sit beside us."
"And yet, she can speak from this side perfectly well. We do not release her to you, and I consider the table both a physical and symbolic barrier."
"All right," they agreed, after a moment.
Juleena gestured, and Vérundia was released. She made her way slowly to us, and Juleena gestured. She sat.
"We have a language issue," I said. "Unless Vérundia has been holding out on me for two years." I said that in both languages.
"I am sorry. I speak only the languages you know," she replied. "Altearan and the language of the Goddess."
"I do not want to go back to translating for the next who knows how long. Juleena's Altearan is clearly insufficient for negotiations. What solution do we have?"
"We will provide a translator for Vérundia," said the queen. "From amongst your hostages."
"That lying little worm," I said. "Fine. But Féla replaces her. I presume you mean Naddí."
"I do," said the queen.
That had been said in Altearan, so I told Juleena what was happening. She nodded. And so there was a big bit of drama while Féla and Naddí were exchanged, a gap being made in the tables, and the two passing in the middle. It was all quite ridiculous. But Naddí made a gesture of respect to her king and queen before taking the offered seat, across from Vérundia.
"You and I will have words later," I told her in Framaran.
"I look forward to it," she said in the same. It even sounded like a Framaran accent, at least to my ears.
The king began the negotiations. "You will apologize. You will agree to depart peacefully. You will agree to never violate the sanctity of our borders again. In exchange, you will be granted safe passage as well as sufficient supplies to see you home. We will drop our demand for reparations, as will you."
"I don't trust you," Juleena said. "We'll take ten of the hostages with us, and I will select them. She will be the first." She hooked a thumb to Vérundia. "We will release five at the border and the remaining five when Yallameenara is safely in Marport."
"Yallameenara is not leaving. She stays. There will be no hostages. You will leave. If your apology is sufficiently contrite, we will not demand hostages, and our two countries need not be at war."
And for the next several hours, neither side budged, not on one single point.
* * * *
Threats were made, but veiled and never direct. And I thought there were more threats that I didn't understand. Juleena made barely veiled references to the hostages and to the treasures of this place.
The king and queen made references to the heir to the throne of Framara.
There were other threats. There were accusations.
But at no point did any of it feel like diplomacy.
Finally I'd had enough. I inserted my hand into the space between
Juleena and the opposing monarchs. When I had their attention, I said, "Juleena told me not to speak. She said this was well past what I could understand. Perhaps that is still the case. It seems to me neither side is interested in a solution. Is this all posturing? Are we going to do this for days before each side gives a little, and then a little more, until we have agreement? Or is this going to come to crossed blades in the end? What?"
It was actually Vérundia who answered me. "Yallameenara, you can end this right now. Agree to stay. If you agree to stay, Princess Juleena will agree to leave. Details can be negotiated. Neither side will be fully pleased with those solutions, but they can be negotiated."
It was the first time she'd spoken since sitting down. I thought I would have to translate, but the queen did it for me.
"No," Juleena said. "You are leaving with us."
"She's right though, isn't she? If I said I wanted to stay."
"Yalla, do not give them this point. You are leaving with me. If you want to return, then that can be a separate negotiation. Perhaps there is room for compromise, but those negotiations happen only in Marport, not here."
The king and queen froze, and I realized that Juleena had just offered more than they had expected.
"Everyone is weary," said the king. "Lady Yallameenara, you are right. We are getting nowhere, and it is not because we are posturing. Do you admit you are the high priestess?"
"It's ridiculous. There is no way these two countries are at war over me. It's ridiculous!"
"We are not at war," said Juleena. "Yet."
"Yet," agreed the queen. "No one wants war, Lady Yallameenara. No one. Correct, Princess Juleena?"
"Correct, but we did not start this. You did."
"We have admitted that," said the king. "Recess? It was late night when we descended. It must be near dawn. A few hours of sleep. Some food we each trust. We could return at noon. It is not long, but no one wants to drag this out."
Juleena nodded.
"Just wait," I said. "How are we going to resolve this? Are we just going to go back and forth over the same issues, getting nowhere?"
"I don't know," said the king. "There has to be a solution."
* * * *
We all sat down. Juleena wasn't as insolent as she had been, but I wouldn't have said she had become polite, either.
"We have an offer," said the king. "Yallameenara will remain here. She will give us a daughter. Once the girl is safely born, Yallameenara will be made barren. And then she will be allowed to leave."
"No!" I screamed. "How can you even suggest such a thing?"
"We just offered to wait a decade for a high priestess," he said. "We just offered to wait a decade until we had someone who could talk to our Goddess."
"You want to take my child and render me barren afterwards. Why?"
"There is no promise your first daughter will be a priestess," said the queen. "But if you can have no others, then either she is, or your line ends, and the next high priestess will come from another line. If that is the case, we must wait decades."
"Decades we must worry about assassins," Juleena said. "Is that how you want her to live?"
"Of course it isn't," said the queen. "But what do you offer us?"
"Beseech your Goddess to choose another high priestess," said Juleena. "If she is truly a Goddess, that is her choice, and this is all a charade."
Vérundia said, "We do not understand why she cannot do so, but this is not the first time we have been in this situation. Until Yallameenara's line has ended, it is only her line that can serve as high priestess to our Goddess."
At the queen's translation, Juleena shrugged. "Not our problem. Do without."
"You would doom our entire country over one woman," said the king.
Juleena slammed her fist against the table, her mouth opening and closing several times, but she had no other response.
"I'll grow my hair," I said. "The Goddess can talk to me in Marport. We can bring someone with us if I must be taught."
"She has never spoken to anyone so far from the Heart of the Goddess," said Vérundia.
And so we remained at impasse, and finally they departed. "Negotiations are in recess," the king declared. "We remain under flag of truce. We will return two hours after dawn."
Juleena nodded, and after they were gone, she pulled me into her arms, neither of us saying a word for a long time.
They had made beds, not bringing in any furniture, but bringing in blankets and pillows. Some time later, Juleena and I curled up together, entirely innocently, but both of us troubled.
"They're not going to let me go," I said. "You have to go home." I stared to cry. "Thank you for trying."
"I'll start killing people. A few bodies will soften them up."
"First, I don't believe it will," I said. "And secondly, I forbid it. You will kill no one. No one is dying over me, Juleena. Do you hear me?"
"It's about more than you."
"Yes, perhaps, and perhaps you can achieve compensation for the insult to Framara. If I agree to stay, they'll give you almost anything else."
"You're not staying."
* * * *
Neither side budged, not really. Different offers were made. None were deemed worth discussing.
Our position was not strong. We could cause destruction and death, but it would be at the cost of Juleena's life. Framara would lose its heir. That was unacceptable.
Their position was not strong, either. If Juleena died here it would be war between the two countries. No one wanted that, Alteara even less than Framara.
For a week, neither side relented.
Termination
The king and queen, clearly weary and despondent, departed. They did not offer words of assurance when they left, and an hour later, Naddí appeared carrying a white flag on a stick. She stepped forward, set a scroll on the table, and then backed slowly out of the room.
One of the soldiers collected the scroll and gave it to Juleena. She read it without expression. Then she turned to me. "They offer safe passage for everyone. You remain here. The hostages remain here. If we do not agree or make a meaningful counteroffer they can accept, they are coming at dawn. We have six hours."
I turned away. "We have to accept."
"I will bring this place to the ground first," she said.
"Then we all die."
"You won't."
"I won't be better off."
"They're bluffing. They want us to capitulate, but they're bluffing."
They weren't bluffing, but Juleena didn't believe me.
* * * *
If anyone slept, I didn't know of it.
Juleena made a counsel with her soldiers. I wasn't invited. They talked for some time, and then the soldiers began moving the hostages into a tighter pile, far from any doors, and they built a defensive position there.
Juleena came to me. "We discussed retreating to the Heart of the Heart."
"No."
"We decided it was impossible to defend."
"They'll come from every direction. This is foolish, Juleena."
"They're bluffing. Saber rattling. They aren't going to let us kill all these people."
"Is that what you'll do? Kill innocent people? Many of them are my friends."
"They're bluffing."
"And in the end?"
"I'm not leaving without you."
She didn't budge, even when I told her over and over I'd stay before I'd let people die.
"They're bluffing."
"And if they are not?"
"So be it."
"Why are you doing this?"
"Why are they?"
"You know why. You're throwing yourself away."
"I have a cousin or two that would be perfectly happy to take the crown. Frankly, I don't think I can rule without you, Yalla. Not after this. I wouldn't have the confidence. I'd never get it back. If I don't get what I came for, the entire world will know in the end I'll back down, when pressed hard enough. I
haven't been bluffing. If I die here, I die here."
"And everyone else?"
"I will not be the one to return to violence."
She wouldn't budge. I went and sat with the hostages and stopped talking to her.
* * * *
They came. It wasn't an army. There wasn't a need for a full army. But it may as well have been.
They filled the room on the far side of the barrier the soldiers had erected. From my sheltered position amongst the hostages, I saw a sea of bristling swords and, beyond them, the tips of bows. I was sure there were other weapons, but I didn't see them from where I huddled.
Then I heard the king call out in Framaran. "Princess Juleena, we will allow you and your forces to leave peacefully. The high priestess and all Altearan citizens remain."
"We will leave peacefully," Juleena yelled back. "Yallameenara leaves with us. We can still negotiate the terms of safe passage. If you attack, we will defend. The hostages will die. Some of you will die. I presume all of us will die. You will plunge our two countries into war for decades."
"You cannot win this encounter, Your Highness," said the queen. "We are deeply sorry it comes to this."
Juleena stepped over to the hostages. She grabbed Vérundia and pulled her free, dragging her partway to the barricade and raising her sword. "I am not bluffing!" she screamed.
And all around me, soldiers lifted swords, ready to run them through one of the bound women. Others prepared to fight.
"We're not bluffing, either," said the king.
"Everyone stop it!" I screamed. "Just stop it!"
"We are very sorry, Yallameenara," called the queen. And then there was a clatter. Hooks attached to chains flew over the barricade, and with a mighty heave, the barricade was pulled apart.
"No!" I screamed.
They hadn't tied me. I dodged two of the soldiers, making a grab for me, and ran to Juleena. I grabbed her knife from her belt and shoved her away from Vérundia. And then I lifted the knife to my own throat.
"Nobody move!" I screamed, first in Arrlottan, and then when I realized, Framaran, and then in Altearan.
It really was quite the bother.
I spun around, making sure everyone knew what I threatened. I saw the king and queen. I saw Vérundia from her place sprawled on the floor. I saw Juleena and her look of sorrow.