บท 180: Negotiations (2)

The second and third negotiations lasted slightly longer.

I stood in a corner in silence, observing my Queen with the straightest face I could have. My hands were itching to touch her, to hug her, and whisper how much I missed her. Yet, I couldn't.

There was a limit about how much craziness was acceptable.

She offered us so much money that anyone else would have accepted; she offered the use of the harbour. Even participation in the profits that came from it. Free use of the docks for ten years and regular offices and lodgings for our sailors.

She offered an alliance; she offered to resign.

«This Queen will live in exile for the rest of her life, but the throne will pass to the successor once this Queen is dead,» she declared.

No, I couldn't afford that!