Beiträge von Baroness Sayeh

Sayeh stood up, “Gentlemen, we have a dispute on our hands over contracted work and further work done after contracts were concluded. A dispute over property that was gifted, but no written acceptance. In the end, these are not terms I can negotiate despite the records we have here. I’ll have the merchant fill you in on the details. The Voice of the West, Jean-Louis is expecting me, and I have delayed my plans with him long enough.”

She turns to the Leader of the Iron Daggers, “Master Kaevh and Beriad will take your case from here, Sir Raven.”

With his her ladies get close to her as she storms out of of the meeting room.

The Lady watches at the scene unfolds before her, a mix of threats, and watches as the confusion leads to the separation of the group and most of them leave.

Finally, Lady Sayeh takes a seat slowly, and sits down looking at the meal before her. “Your form of negotiations lack charm, Diob. The property belongs to Lord Victor and it is not at the right of The East Blackwood Company to sell it or gift it, and for that matter, it’s value could be all but worth that of a single copper. Your report doesn’t match up, it’s rather inflated, and there are tasks that were not asked of you that were done and now you demand more money.”

The charm Sayeh had before melted away quickly as she cut some food off her plate. “Your negotiation sounds more like the demand of a gypsy trying to get away with a con. Strange thing about that, is you don’t try to con someone who knows how con artists work. And now here we are twisting words in contracts written by an amateur scribe in my company. And I am sure the Ambassador will blame me for this as well,” she picks up her cutlery ready to start cutting up her food.

“Make a deal, and your buyer backs out, and the scribe made an error, and sit in room listening to LIES IN THIS HELL HOLE OF A DISTRICT!”

Lady Sayeh takes her whole plate of food and throws it against the wall and rises to her feet.

“How much more poison will I listen to coming from your smiling mocking faces? I’ll say again, your negotiation sounds more like a demand, a threat, and scheme thats was pocketed and hushed until the most opportune moment to try and find a way into pull at the purse strings.”

Her teeth grit together, “If you think, your threats will have any impact on me, there are powers that I have worked far harder to earn the respect of than the likes of you. I highly suggest you whip your dogs into order, and teach them new tricks.”

She leans forward on the table, and the wind rattles the shutters in the room making it hum through the cracks while her temper flares.

She looks to Diob and glares coldly at him.

“The Squire of Dark Isle was not present at your negotiations, and they would not drink during the terms of negotiations. So, with the likes of men who like to think they can take meek and seemingly simple minded woman, and insult them. And this has been a true and disgusting insult, since the Squire of the Dark Isle is me.”

She turns back to Raven, “Do all your negotiations start with an insult to a noble woman’s intelligence and to make demands? Negotiations have a far different mood, and I have faced Lord Faust who’s terms of negotiations are his terms or no terms.” Her voice lowers to almost a growl.

“The terms are you can get your standard amount of negotiated pay, judging by the stocks of food and wine in house, I would say you’ve also racked up quite a bill for yourselves which seems like more than your share of this price you believe should be paid, and if you want future employment and compensation then those can be discussed at that time. Also, seeing as your reputations in my circles are getting an ill approval, I don’t believe they will enjoy what I have to say. Oh and threats of death, well, the largest army in the Western Seal will not take kindly to that, nor I am sure within a few circles of the Rosen. Also, there are connections in the Ambassador’s hands.”

“You ask for a price that is given to those that are,” she smiles, “so, surely there must have been applications of citizenship given to the Squire of Dark Isle. After all, such a price would mean such a thing, since any citizen of Blackwood would envy such a price. And citizenship abroad can be granted, otherwise why have an Ambassador who’s contract allows him to do such things granted by the king?”

Lady Sayeh smiles, and looks around at the food on the table, “Also, so the matter of property then, so that means Lord Victor Kettle was there? The Lord of the Lunorth? He signed then did he? I must admit the list of people attending this arrangement with you is rather exciting!”

Sayeh presses her lips together, and smiled. “Very interesting. And your papers of Blackwood citizenship? Do you have those?”

Sayeh folds her hands, “Is that so? Well, if that is the case then Blackwood would have sent the Lord of the Dark Isle’s squire to over see such an agreement because it would have needed to be brought to the attention of the crown. The Lord’s of Blackwood are heavily invested in this venture, and they would have sent the Squire to the Lord of the Dark Isle, there is no question about that.”

She looks over at the contract and gets a dreamy look in her eyes. “Tell me, I hear they are a handsome one, the squire is the fairest in the kingdom. Surely you must tell me what they, looked like?”

“My goodness,” she said the look of shock on her face, and she looks to the others, “Were any of you in harms way from these rat people? Surely it must have been a terrifying experience, no? How many did you face? There must have been a swarm of them! And the water, the bodies, ugh, it is one thing to handle the dead in battle but to handle the decay of bodies,” she retches at the thought, covering her mouth.

“Goodness, the water supply,” Sayeh said with some fear in her voice. “What happened? And these rat people you say, I have dealt with such a scourge before in my travels to the other Embassy we are associated with. Such vermin.”

She snaps her fingers twice and asks for food, “Would any of you like something to drink or eat? I’m quiet peckish at the moment. Please, continue, would you mind?”

Sayeh presses her lips together, as she folds the letter back up.

“Well, that will be a matter for another time.” Her eyes show some disappointment. “Anyway, moving right along, I have called you all here to gather a report. What has been the status of your time here in the district? Anything that needs to be reported to the Ambassador?”

“Excellent,” she exclaimed, “well, let us begin then, shall we? There will be items to discuss.”

She sees the sealed letter placed before her, and glances at the seal and then back at the merchant, and back at the Iron Daggers.

“Forgive me,” she said, with a tone of hesitation in her voice as she opened the letter and broke the seal.

Three women came into the room dressed in deep blue robes, each with armor in their own style and preference to show of their heritage. Finally, the Mistress arrived with two ledgers in hand, one red and one blue. Strangely enough, she was the same woman who had witnessed the two wrestling in the street earlier that day, and she was dressed in the same clothes from that morning still.

“My sincerest apologizes,” she said, “it would seem that Raelene will not be joining us today, there is another matter for her to attend to at this moment.” She looked for a moment at the seat at the head of the table and frowned at it, placing the ledgers loudly on the table and pulling up her sleeves to push the chair out of the way and against the wall. She brushed her hands together and walked back to the place where the chair once was and stood before them with her finger tips touching the table. “There has been some urgency in getting to know you, the Ambassdor has mentioned the Iron Daggers to me, but this will be my first chance to meet you, and introduce myself to you all as well. I am Lady Sayeh, Representative of East Blackwood in His Majesty’s court in the Kingdom of Blackwood across the sea and through the fog.”

After watching the display outside, the woman walks back into the building and to a desk looking over the books and items. She still didn’t know how she was going to explain all this, but this could bring strength and a future, and perhaps even some kind of protection, if the stones for this foundation were laid right.

Alright, now to put things into motion, she thought, she watched as one of her ladies came into the room. “Please, call the Iron Daggers to assemble in the meeting room.”

The maid bowed her head, “Yes, Mistress,” she said leaving Lady Sayeh to look over the last parts of her plan.

A woman in a cotton white shirt, and deep indigo blue skirt, walks onto the scene of these two men fighting.

She had woken up early for a walk that morning to clear her thoughts, and enjoy some peace that it brought... only to hear the echos of a clamor in the district instead. She straightened out her brown stripped canvas corset, and leather vest and decided to investigate.

Only, when she did find them fighting she crossed her arms and leans against the walls a moment to wait for them to exert their energy... or realize they were not alone... whichever came first. She smirked as she watched. “Northern Games, wouldn’t you say, Axel?” She mutters softly so they can’t hear her, as a sad memory passes her mind, and then flees.

Realene doesn’t say any thing, and walks to her desk to pick up her book and graphite. Her hands, still trembling, fumble as she tries to gather her things into her arms.

“Ask Djako then, if you trust the company of your own people. What would be best is to find a way for him to invite you into his circle if you’d rather not seem arrogant. Sometimes it is better to make a good impression and be invited, than to come across wanting.”

Raelene holds her things close to her chest, a picks up her dress. “I need air, so I’ll leave you with whom you trust.”

With that, Realene leaves the room.

Realene presses her lips together for only a moment. “Bracvera, where I was deemed worthy for breeding stock... and nothing more. I was called ‘Realene’ because I was his ‘little lamb’.”

Her body start to tremble.

“He was a merchant, and not the honorable kind. The kind that has his day time job and the kind that works another trade under the cover of that one.”

She swallows, “His precious little Rae-Rae... his little yellow haired golden treasure who could grant his customers entertainment as he made her breathe poisoned smoke to make her hallucinate and say riddles,” she laughs but it’s in anger, “oh and let’s not mention what happens when she blacks out, oh what lovely things could he make money for then when your body is owned, bought, and paid for by someone else and doesn’t belong to you. How they brand you, so that everyday for the rest of your life you are reminded that you are not a being, you are a piece of meat to be used and sold that maybe even the dogs themselves that eat the scraps in the streets are more free to do as they will than you are.”

Realene’s eyes well up with tears. “And the only freedom thatcame was when a woman dressed in black walks into a room where you are by accident, where you are chained with blood dripping down your nose, hoping that maybe she’s the shadow of death come to finally take you out of this hell.”

Realene swallows hard as tears come down her cheeks. “And by some miracle the next thing you know you’re on a boat, and the woman in black who you think is some kind of queen the way she holds herself is bathing you cause you’re too weak to do it on your own because you haven’t eaten a decent meal. She reads you stories, and gives you medicine, and cleans up the vomit without complaint. And you wonder for months why someone so kind is treating you this way... she teaches you to read and to write and how to use numbers. She shows you how to be strong, and tell sea captains who think they know everything how to not take advantage of you, and that here on her tiny island you have a place where no one is your master. That you have a voice and it should be heard, and that you should speak it freely because FOR TOO LONG... no one heard you screaming for help or cared until she came along, and she was patient and kind even when you couldn’t find the right words, and then she died before you could tell her that you loved her... that she was the mother you thought you should have had if you had had a normal childhood. And she never calls you Rae or Rae-Rae to remind you of how broken you are and how worthless you felt. She calls you ‘Lee’ because it means ‘Healer’ and because you can’t to be healed of all the horrible things.”

She swallows, “But what do you care. You’re about ready to just throw that water in my face anyway, right? Here’s Raelene Skye... the Asset of the company... and in my mind I should have listened to the voice in my head that said, no way he’d ever believe that for a moment.”

“I have,” she says, as she walks away. “I didn’t say anything when you and Victor shared a toast. I didn’t say anything when we entered his home, or when we stayed in the same room with less favorable company. Or fought to spend more money on a second room at times.”

She looks at the wine sitting next to the water. “There were times when I stopped talking because it was more favorable for you to be in that moment of victory than it was for me.”

Realene taps her fingers a moment on her leg. “I’m also quiet when you call me the same nickname as my master did when he would drag me into a dark room by my chains when he was drunk. Or drug me to have visions... for his guests entertainment.”

She stands there for a long moment...

“I shut up about a lot of things...”

“If you don’t know them, then why are they of interest then? One way to get them to meet with you is to find common ground. So... I’m asking you questions to find the common ground.”

She stops her slow pacing and goes to fix a drink, “Or... you take to a chance meeting, and you pay attention intently, charm them, and keep the talk about yourself to a minimum to show them that you show interest in who they are. EVEN,” she puts the glass down hard, “if it bores you,” and smirks.

She starts pouring, “Sometimes the greatest political and business strength, is the gift of listening,” she places the pitcher down and walks over with the glass, “and knowing when,” she puts it down beside him, “to shut up.”

“What are their political values then? Obviously the rift that’s divided them must stem from something and it deals with something they don’t agree with, so that would be something to avoid.”

She presses her lips together, and taps her finger on her arm and starts pacing in slow steps, rocking a little.

“What do you know of his order?”

“Well...” Realene thinks, “What do you know about him? His interests?”

She crosses her arms, “For example, Victor’s focus is on the future, his legacy perhaps even, his children. So, you think about what is the common ground, what might interest him and make a compromise that works in both favors. It’s doesnt always work but it gets people thinking and talking. It opens doors.

“What have you talked about with him?”

“Key to investing, and old tip; Buy in low and sell high,” Realene says after a moment of silence once Dagger is finished. “It’s a good tip to follow in any kind of trade or market. You buy in at the low moments that way you can be one of the things that builds it back up. Its risky, but a way to end up on top and reap a reward and leave with a profit at least.”