The dining room glittered, the deep red of the carpet complimenting the snow-white tablecloth that lined the extensive table. The room was lined with towering windows and embroidered tapestries that made the walls feel so embellished that I wondered if it was already a crime for me to even be standing in the same space as them.
Across the table, already sat the king of Nagaria, infamous and notoriously boisterous. He was young—only 26 years old, having received the crown at 16 when the previous monarch passed. The master would often joke around about the new King being a puppet to the ministers, allowing the count to get away with whatever he wanted. Having been preoccupied with social gatherings of the well-partied elite and too young to care for the administrative efforts of politics, it was easy for them to do whatever they wanted; and from the excessive size of the jewels that were around his neck and fingers, it felt as if those rumors could be true.
"Welcome, Prince Ellion. I hope you've found your stay so far to be enjoyable," the king greeted with a smile. At this distance, the King was but a tiny figure incredibly far away.
How is he supposed to hear me from all the way over there?
I quickly turned, relaying his words to the prince, who had sat down and kept a stony expression.
"Greetings, King Ellion. My stay has been quite comfortable," The prince replied. I translated once again. The King looked at me wearily, obviously uncomfortable with my being there.
Trust me I feel just as uncomfortable as you are.
"May I inquire as to why this slave is here? If you need an interpreter, I could find another. What do you think?" He asked with an almost pained smile.
I relayed his question.
"Tell him to mind his own business, there's no need for you to introduce yourself either" he said, keeping the same blank almost bored expression on his face. I blinked. A couple times, wanting to ask just in case I heard wrong. I turned to the King.
"He says it's nothing worthy of your concern, Your Majesty," I replied. I gave myself a standing ovation for my quick thinking.
"I see…"
The servants knocked on the doors announcing their presence, before coming in and presenting lunch.
Why were the negotiations scheduled during lunch instead of in the negotiations room later? Is he trying to suck up to him in hopes of lowering the demands?
"I'm very impressed with your army, Prince Tristian. You must have trained them impeccably."
Wow, it's like this guy can read my mind.
I translated.
"And I was impressed by how utterly weak yours was, King Ellion," he said unentertained.
Oh dear. Can you even translate that to sound nicer?
Not having enough time to figure any other way, I just translated it as it was.
The King frowned and was obviously holding back his immediate anger.
Maybe I should have tried harder to make it sound nicer…
"Is the food to your taste?" He asked, changing the subject.
"It would be even more to my taste if he would shut up," he said, obviously starting to get annoyed with the pointless banter.
"He says he likes his meals better in silence, King Ellion," I said. Although similar, I hoped it took the edge off of his statement. I also hoped the prince wouldn't notice that I wasn't translating his statements word for word.
"I see, my apologies, Prince," he said bitterly. After I repeated his apology to the prince, they both ate without another sentence, until after the food was completely finished.
"Let's get on with the negotiations, shall we?" He said. I repeated after him.
"Yes, I supposed we should. What are your demands?" The king asked.
"We demand monetary compensation in the form of 5,000 large gold coins for the mental distress of my people, the damage to my army, and the harm inflicted upon the residents who were raided at the border," he stated.
I blinked trying to process what he said.
What happened to simple words?
"Um… He asks for 5,000 large gold coins for… the damage," I said.
"5,000?!"The king exclaimed in surprise. "Absolutely not! My country would fall to ruin!"
"He says that the country will fall to ruin to give that much, Your Highness," I said.
"Would he rather his country fall to ruin by my hand instead?"
I reluctantly translated his crude statement. The king grew silent.
"I also need food and supplies that will last the entire trip back to the Empire. Around fifty barrels of food provisions and sixty barrels of water should suffice. Actually make that sixty barrels of food and seventy barrels of water. We need to account for the new addition of slaves," he stated. I relayed his demand.
"Are you out of your mind?! That's enough to feed a whole town for a month! The castle food stores would go bare," he refuted.
"He says that doing that would make the castle food stores go bare," I said.
"Does it look like I care?"
"... He said his demand remains the same," I substituted.
The King's mouth gaped, unable to make a response.
"We'll also need weapons. I want 200 swords, 100 bows, 1,000 arrows, and 300 sets of armor. I'd ask for more, but I figure replacing the weaponry in my unit should suffice for now," he finished. I translated.
"Is there anything he doesn't want?! Slave, tell him that I cannot and will not fulfill those unreasonable demands!" He shouted, standing from his seat huffing. I flinched at his loud tone but did as he asked.
"Unreasonable? I think that invading our land was rather unreasonable, don't you think? Not to mention the illegal trade and smuggling they were doing in and out of our country as well," He said, glaring. I looked away, not wanting to catch his gaze. I repeated his statement, not able to produce the same life-threatening tone as him.
The king scowled at the prince, but didn't seem to be able to come up with anything to say in return. The prince reached inside his coat pocket and took out a document and handed it to me. I took it and waited for his directions.
"All of my demands are written here on this paper. There are also sections on land, new laws, and new regulations to be made. Bring it over to him."
I translated and brought the paper over. I bowed deeply, raising the paper in both hands, above my head, and offered it to him. He snatched it out of my hands roughly.
"You think I can read this?" He scoffed.
I stood back up and turned to the prince, "He says he's unable to read it."
"Did I say he was supposed to? That's just the copy he's meant to sign and stamp," He said simply. I turned back to the King, bowing my head, "He said that this is the copy you are meant to sign and stamp, Your Majesty."
"How does he expect me to sign and stamp something I can't even read! What if he put in something ridiculous? I demand that a copy be made in Nagarian which is signed and stamped by him as well," he said. I relayed his request.
"Fine," The prince said.
"Call the Royal scribe!" The King ordered. Soon enough a man came wearing a hat two times the size of his head with two huge feathers pinned to the side.
With a uniform like that, I'm glad I'm a slave.
The royal scribe held a wooden board and started to write down everything I said as I read off the paper. I might have simplified things here and there, but the main point of everything stayed the same. I did feel bad when I had to take a moment here or there to try to decipher the difficult sentences and then try to translate them as closely as I could to Nagarian.
Why didn't the prince just get a professional for this?
After a few minutes we had translated the whole document with a full official copy made. The King signed and stamped it before handing it to me, in which I quickly walked to the other side of the table, not wanting to stand near the King for another second. I handed off the paper, setting it in front of the prince before taking my place standing beside him. He took the paper and handed it back to me. I looked at the paper and back at the prince, trying to figure out why he was trying to give it to me. I looked at the prince strangely.
Why are you trying to give it back? You want me to sign it for you?
"Read it," He stated simply. I took the paper from his hand but was stopped by the King's booming voice.
"What are you doing?!" He yelled. I flinched and looked at the king in surprise.
"The prince ordered me to read it," I explained.
"Why would a slave like you know how to read Nagarian? And why would he need to read it anyways, he just watched us write it just now!"
The King seemed to be frantic. His eyes were shaking and he was panting like he had just run a marathon.
The Prince smirked.
"It seems he wants to know why I wanted you to read it," He noted.
"Yes, Your highness," I replied.
"For the same reason you had another copy written. Why would I sign something that I can't even read?" He asked. I repeated after him. The King froze, gaping like a fish.
"Read it," The prince directed at me. I looked at the paper and started to read it off, translating it back once again.
"Due to… the misdemeanors and… treacherous behavior of the Nagarian Kingdom,"
I'm so glad I studied this part.
"Below are listed demands that the mentioned party is not…"
I stopped, confused. I looked closer at the paper trying to see if I read it wrong.
...what?
"What does it say?" The Prince asked, almost redundantly.
"It says, 'Below are listed the demands the mentioned party is not required to follow'.." I trailed off. My gaze turned to the king, giving him a confused look.
He flew into a fit.
"THIS SLAVE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO READ! SHE PROBABLY READ IT WRONG! TAKE THIS SLAVE AWAY! SHE DARES LIE IN FRONT OF ROYALTY!" He screamed. The guards looked hesitant to move but took a couple unsure steps forward. I instinctively moved back, stepping further behind the prince's chair.
"Guards," the Prince spoke. Behind us, the Empirian Guards that we took with us drew their swords, causing the others to stop their advance towards me.
"King Ellion, I was really hoping that it wouldn't come to this. Because, honestly, the paperwork after taking over a country is such a pain," He said. His bored look turned into a fearsome glare.
"Kill them all."