Aren heard the bells toll once, twice, nine times. Sighing, she called Marin, a young errand boy who worked at Arian’s embassy, over for the day''s itinerary.
A Sterlir, a woman named Terys de Valen, would be the first -her time started in fifteen minutes- to speak. She would be followed by a fellow Sterlir, Griffin Parlos, and after his time was up, the council would break for lunch. She, of course, was going to lunch with Quill and Trici.
Zinnia, her translator, was relaxed in a corner. Aren turned to her questioning, "We''ve got to be up there in ten minutes. Ready?"
"Yeah, I got breakfast and I''m dressed up properly. I talked to the other translators a bit ago; Pyros is the only one who knows Gilish, so he''ll be the one translating for the second speaker.
“I don’t like that he’s going to do a whole speaker alone, but it seems to short a timetable to find him a second translator to swap with. Quill mentioned that two of the afternoon''s speakers will need to be translated for everyone", Zinnia replied, her light accent punctuating her ''T''s, which were much airier than the lenitioned ‘T’s of Aren’s native Plutasine. “I think Pyros will be the one swapping out with Quill when need be for one of the speakers, though I can’t remember the other’s assigned translators.
"Got it. Just remember to follow my lead if you don''t know what to do, Zinnia. I can promise that’ll work out fine for you, so don’t panic. The others will start lining up for their entrances rather soon", Aren said, turning to the door. She motioned for Zinnia to follow, holding the door open for her.
…
"And lastly, I''ll be going out to lunch, so I won''t be available during the break", Quill stated, running out of breath, to Mari.
"That''s the whole day''s itinerary?", questioned Mari.
"That''s it. Ready?"
"Yes. If you don''t know what to do, just follow my lead. And remember, Quill, even if we all are all on a first-name basis, there is a crowd watching", Mari said, holding the door for Quill, "I''d like you to be as formal as possible while translating, and when addressing me, Pucoths, Liara, or whomever else you talk with."
"Got that", Quill replied, leaving the room. Mari followed, briefly speeding up to be even with him. They passed by several doors- those would be the other ambassadors'' rooms- which were carved with the ornate, intricate designs of their respective country''s seal. Several of the others had already begun lining up. Aren, up ahead of Mari and him, caught his eye and nodded subtly at him. He returned the gesture.
He ended up in front of Dwilen in the translators'' line, Mari parallel to him in the other. Liara, Eric''s translator was in front of him. If he remembered correctly, she had been working with a translator in Eric''s retinue since before he had retired from fighting to take his role as an ambassador. Quill wondered what use a translator was in a war without diplomacy between the combatants, though that was neither here nor there.
…
Eric saw this all as utterly pointless. He already knew his stance on The Evil. He had fought it, either personally or in command of others, for long enough to know they wouldn''t be able to reason or deal with it. If absolute power corrupted absolutely, then so did absolute evil.
They might play nice for a while, but they would turn, they would attack, and humanity wouldn''t be prepared. The best-case scenario would be hundreds of thousands of deaths. Why some from more distant nations never realised that, Eric didn''t know, but the idea posed a threat nonetheless.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
He had already made up his mind. No matter what, he was going to vote against a treaty. The others, though, might not be so set in their stance, either way.
He would have to try to target the more weak-willed or neutral-on-the-issue members of the council who could have their minds changed and make absolutely sure that they would vote against a treaty. Like, for example, Aris, who should’ve- and would’ve- caused international incidents with his bumbling idiocy by now if it weren’t for everyone else keeping him in line or out of the way.
The 15-minute bells tolled clear and loud, snapping Eric out of his winding train of thought. An attendant on each side of the hallway opened the doors and the group filed into the commons. Murmurs from around the room quieted. Just over a dozen chairs scraped, grinding against the stone ground, as the delegations of each country sat down.
A presenter at the head of the room began the proceedings in a doubtlessly boring statement that Eric decided to tune out. It would just be a restatement of the itinerary Liara- or was it Tehran?- had given him to read an hour ago. He would wait a few minutes for the speaker to begin their speech.
…
Tria was snapped out of their semi-asleep daze and alert by a speaker, an older woman clad in a light grey dress, with hair similar in tone to their own outfit, who began speaking. Even if they were tired, Tria was determined to listen. As long as the monastery got their information, it would be worth it.
The speaker began, "Ladies, gentlemen, and all those in between, may I please have your attention. I’m sure each and every one of you know why we’re here, though you may be lacking details. Today the Council of World Powers'' appointed representatives shall listen to the first seven speakers, from 9:15 AM to 8:30 PM, with a break from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM for lunch.
“Speakers shall have exactly 60 minutes- from one bell to the one four following it- to deliver their speeches and will be allotted an additional 15 minutes, the space between the fourth and fifth ringings of their speech, to answer questions and defend their speeches. They may cede their time allotted for speaking to answer more questions in their monologue’s stead.
“The topic of these meetings shall be the decision to- or not to- proceed with negotiations for a treaty to peacefully co-exist with the Grand Army and Armada of Demons, Hellbeasts, and Creatures of Darkness, more commonly known as The Evil.“
Tria started tuning them out. Was the speaker trying to make her speech as boring as humanly possible? Quickly, they snapped themselves back to attention by harshly pinching their elbow’s interior. Hopefully whatever the speaker had meandered on about wasn’t that critical.
"The representatives of the nations shall be Representative Aren de Gephyra of Arina, General Eric Myros of Ferthusia", she paused before continuing, "commonly known by his epithet ''The Bloodaxe'', Department Head Mari de Thern of Sterlir, Council Head Rei Wathrel of Rathia, Duke Aris von Grissom of Zeryzian, Minister Hothal Derisz of Mexai, and last- but far from least- Representative Pucoths Ragthdottir of Iridawal.”
Tria smiled a little bit. Such a convenient listing of persons-of-interest was fairly rare, even in dry and formal settings like this one. It would be giant time-saver for them, not having to track those names down themself later.
"By accordance of the Council of World Powers, a majority of votes- four- are required for the motions to pass. A representative may either vote ''For'', ''Against'', or ''Abstain'', the announcer explained before pausing briefly. She took the time to grab a sip of water.
Tria found the small notebook in on of their tunic’s pockets and started scribbling notes on the pad of paper now in their lap, realizing it may be a good idea.
Taking a breath, the Speaker continued her statement, "The voting period shall occur no earlier than 8:30 PM on the third and final day, overmorrow. Representatives may, should they wish, call upon a speaker to reiterate or clarify a point in their speech during said time.”
Tria kept scribbling down the rules. The monks may have an interest in how the Council ran its meetings, no matter how minute. They could pour through them later, and maybe find a loophole or two if they were lucky.
"Lastly, a representative who has already cast a vote may change their vote, so long as it is within the allotted timeframe for deliberation. Should no vote be cast, they shall be automatically assigned ''Abstain''.
"With that out of the way, please give a hand to your first speaker, Speaker Terys de Valen, who hails from the nation of Sterlir.", the woman finished. She stepped to the side, allowing a shorter woman sporting cyan eyes. Tria noted that the speaker''s stark white hair matched her suit.
"Speaker de Valen, your time starts with the quarter-hour bells. You may commence your speech then."