“I know,” sighed the mayor. “It is the best that I can do. There are others above me who can overrule my orders. I cannot make a guarantee. Just a few days ago General Kapla led a huge army through here. He could just as easily have decided to set up camp in Campanil. There is nothing that I could do to stop that. If he did such a thing, my soldiers would certainly obey his orders. He is the Minister of Defense after all.”
“Well,” replied StarWind, “things have also changed on my end since we last talked. I do not know if you have received word yet, but Gatong and Fortung are now Sakovan cities.”
Mayor Ferde nodded without surprise. “I suspected something along those lines when the Minister of Defense led his own army northward. How does that affect Campanil?”
“The Star of Sakova now wants Campanil to defect,” StarWind declared.
“Defect?” echoed the mayor. “That is a far cry from keeping my soldiers inside the city.”
“It is,” agreed the Sakovan spy, “but it is now necessary. If the Sakovans decide to move on Okata, we cannot risk having a city behind us that has not declared allegiance. Surely, you can see that?”
Mayor Ferde stared at the Sakovan spy for several minutes before responding. He appeared to be weighing the risk of StarWind’s proposal, and the Sakovan spy let him ponder in silence.
“Many times,” Mayor Ferde finally said, “you have asked me to believe you, and I have done so. Now you retreat from your previous offer and present a new one. How am I supposed to balance that when you present yourself as always honest? Certainly changing the terms of a bargain do not constitute honesty?”
“You never accepted the bargain,” StarWind pointed out. “If you had, I would have a hard time relaying the wishes of my leader, but you refused. Also,” the spy continued, “you almost never took my word as the truth. You have always demanded to verify statements for yourself. I personally do not have a problem with such an approach, but you seek to portray it as something different.”
“Alright,” conceded the mayor. “You are correct about me verifying everything. That is my nature. And as to your proposal, you are correct that I did not accept it. Still, what you are asking is most extreme. I cannot possibly turn my city over to the Sakovans, even if I wanted to. I would be caught between Okata and General Kapla’s army. Only a fool would even consider such a thing, and I am no fool.”
“What if I could guarantee that neither Sakovans nor Omungans would attack Campanil?” posed StarWind.
“I fail to see how you could offer such a guarantee,” the mayor shook his head. “I like you, StarWind. You have courage far beyond anyone that I have ever met, and you have been honest with me, but I will not risk the lives of my people to your word alone. Your guarantee means nothing to Campanil.”
“Fair enough,” frowned StarWind. “Would the word of the Star of Sakova be any different?”
“I would accept her word for half of that guarantee,” conceded the mayor, “but I would not accept her guarantee of no attack from Omungans. She is incapable of offering such security.”
“Would you guarantee her safe passage to come into this office and present her case?” asked StarWind.
“The Star of Sakova in Campanil?” gasped the mayor. “I cannot imagine that she would ever attempt such a thing.”
“You met her in Okata when times were dangerous,” StarWind reminded the mayor.
“You are right,” conceded Mayor Ferde. “Perhaps she takes risks as you do.” The mayor remained quite for a time before continuing. “I will offer such a guarantee,” he finally nodded. “I prefer negotiations to conflict. If you think that she would be willing to come here and talk to me, I will guarantee her safety while she is in the city.”
“Will you send someone down to collect me?” asked a new voice as Lyra reversed the flow of the air tunnel that she had been using to listen in on the conversation.
The mayor jolted nervously at the sound of the voice. His eyes instantly scanned the room before landing on StarWind with a questioning expression.
“That is the Star of Sakova,” announced StarWind. “I guess she has finally arrived from Fortung.”
“Where is she?” questioned the mayor. “How was she able to speak in this room?”
“She is on the street below us,” answered StarWind. “As for her ability to be heard, the Star of Sakova has amazing powers. Will you send a runner down?”
The mayor paused only a moment before nodding and ringing a small bell on his desk. The door opened and a soldier stuck his head in.
“There is a young woman outside the gates,” declared the mayor. “She is to be escorted to my office. There will be no questions asked of her, and she will not be mistreated. Do you understand?”
The soldier nodded and withdrew. StarWind and Mayor Ferde waited silently for Lyra to arrive. Eventually the door opened and the Star of Sakova entered the office. The soldier closed the door as he departed.
“Thank you for seeing me, Mayor Ferde,” Lyra said. “I understand that you seek assurances of safety for the people of Campanil. I am capable of offering those assurances and much more.”
“Much more?” echoed the mayor. “As I mentioned to StarWind, I am willing to take your word that Sakovans will not attack my city, but I cannot accept any guarantees from you regarding the actions of Omungans. What else do you have to offer?”
“Food,” Lyra stated. “I have a ship outside your city right now waiting for my signal to enter your port. There is enough food to feed your people for several days. I can also have my mages restore your fields to health, and continue the food shipments until harvest.”
“Those are offers that I can greatly appreciate,” replied the mayor, “but there is one major guarantee missing. None of this matters if Campanil is forced to receive the wrath of the Katana. While the people may starve to death without food, their deaths are guaranteed if they disavow the Katana. I am not sure how you managed to gain the allegiance of the other cities of Omunga, but Campanil is not remote like the others. We would have little notice before the armies of Okata struck us down.”
“Whose word would you accept for a guarantee that Omunga would not attack you?” asked Lyra.
“Whose word?” echoed the mayor. “What kind of question is that? Are you going to get the Katana not to promise to attack Campanil because you don’t want him to? Let us not play games here.”
“I do not consider the lives of thousands of citizens in Campanil to be a game,” retorted the Star of Sakova. “I earnestly meant what I asked. If you will not accept my guarantee, whose will you accept?”
“I would accept the Katana’s word,” replied the mayor. “Can you tell me that you can deliver it?”
“Certainly not,” answered Lyra, “but then again, I do not think the Katana’s word is worth much. Larst made many promises to me personally. Either his word is worthless, or the Katana is not Larst. Either way his word would mean nothing. Surely there is someone else’s word that you would be willing to accept as a guarantee?”
Mayor Ferde was silent for a while as he contemplated Lyra’s question. He felt confident that Lyra was trying to trap him. She seemed so confident that he would eventually agree to merge his city into the Sakova that the mayor began to wonder what she could know that he did not. Suddenly, StarWind’s words from her previous visit came back to him. He suspected that the Star of Sakova would try to suggest that the Khadorans could guarantee the protection of his city. The mayor knew that was nonsense, and a smile began to spread across his face.
“If you are going to suggest that the Khadorans would guarantee the peace for Campanil,” the mayor began, “I would never accept such a suggestion. There is absolutely no way that you can convince me that Emperor Marak would agree to such a bold move.”
Lyra smiled as she wove the air tunnel to Khadoratung. She did not speak when she felt the mage in Khadora grab the other end. The mage would know where the air tunnel was coming from and would send for Emperor Marak immediately. Lyra waited patiently.