Thari was part of the ruling branch of the colony? For the longest, he thought the man a fool with no prospects in moving up the chain, but instead he was of the highest tier? Both Ash and Frezar had bitter expressions on their faces. It was because of Thari they were here now instead of already within the halls of Aiden.

“Tell me more about this Thariul character.” Jonas said as he looked out the window.

Tedder jumped on the chance to change the subject and get away from the executioner’s axe. “Thariul is the brother of Taniul patriarch of House Petr. The man is one of the shrewdest political figures of this generation. He won himself a seat on the council after being denied the seat of patriarch by his father decades ago. It was thought impossible until he and his closest ally, Cothelas--also a second son--both did it at the same time.

How they garnered enough votes and support from the priest of the Father and the agents of the Emperor is beyond my station, but my uncle says they orchestrated one of the biggest and most one sided trade deals for the empire. You probably heard about it, The Treaty of GolenBurg.

Other than that, not much is known other than they have more ambition than sense.”

The Treaty of GolenBurg. Not only did the empire fleece the neighboring kingdom of a massive portion of their lands, it was a mountainous area filled with iron, silver, and mana-metal mines. Until this date, it was considered a matter of study even for Jonas when taught by his instructors.

From what they have already discovered in just a few years, over five massive iron mines, twelve silver mines, and most importantly two completely untouched and preserved mana-metal mines had been discovered. That was not mentioning the valuable stone and other less important resources they shoveled in the wagon load.

And all for what...a single dragon stone...half used and barely functional. A resource the Empire found to be abundant enough.

When Jonas asked who the negotiators were--he had not seen it written anywhere in the books available--the only response he got was that it was an agent of the emperor and nothing more. No matter how hard he tried, he couldnt even get his father to say a single word about it.

But now, now he knew or at the very least had an inkling of who it was that made such a historic deal.

Frickin Thari, the foppish dandy bastard had been playing them like a fiddle without anyone ever realizing it. He had almost gotten away with it too if the wig wearing, face painting son of a gun hadn't been smart enough to read through his ploy to force his oaths on him by reading the royal decree.

Jonas rubbed his chin in what appeared to be thoughtfulness. “An impressive resume.”

“Re-zoom-ea…?” Tedder said, then turned pale when Jonas looked at him with widened eyes. To him, they were filled with wrath and a burning desire to destroy him.

To be truthful, he sat surprised at the...foriegn word he had spoken. Or was it?

It knew what it meant, almost intrinsically. He had to build his from the ground up, his whole career and life had depended on it before. Why did it sound alien to his ears and those around him.

He shook his head as he couldn’t work out the issue that was clear to everyone else. He couldn’t separate the two realities any longer with their borders so blurred together. So he thought it completely normal and Tedder’s reaction was strange.

Then again, every time he thought about it a feeling of discomfort made him beyond uneasy and axious. He wanted to end the conferance as soon as possible now to get away from than unnatural feeling.

“Tedder.”

The blonde haired man jumped--of course his hair jumped with him and came down in waves. “Y-yes, My Lord?”

“It's your lucky day. Hanging you won't solve the problem. I am sure you are ecstatic.” Sarcasm dripped from his voice as he stared holes in Tedder.

“Oh, yes! No solving anything by hanging me! None at all.” Tedder rubbed his neck and shook in visible joy at surviving what he thought was imminent death.

“Now get out! I expect you to start multiple food drives and serving the people as penance for your part in making sure something like this continues to happen. Hope you learn your lesson or we can reschedule your meeting with the gallows, I am sure.”

Tedder nodded like a broken machine. “Y-yes. Food drives! Dozens! I’ll give them all the food they can eat. They’ll all be stuffed like birds during the festivals!” He got up without preamble and walked as fast as proprietary would allow him in front of his king.

Jonas waited for the rest of the people not apart of his honor guard to leave, but for some reason they milled around in stiff forms. Destrian and his crew would not leave no matter how much he stared at them. Until finally Jonas broke, these people were going to give him a heart attack early.

“What is it now? What do you want?”

The thin man stepped forward scratching his head an anxious expression on his face. “Err...you said something about food?”

Jonas raised an eyebrow. “Yes. Fod drives. We have more than enough food to give the people of this village to last them long enough until I can accomplish my plan for this village.”

Greenhouses. He knew it should work with all he knew about them. The concept was simple enough, regulate the climate and weather surrounding the plants to produce what should not grow at the time. Even in the dead of winter they could grow wheat and other crops only natural to more heat and sunlight.

It was simply ingenious for a society that depended upon the farming industry more than any other, not mentioning the fact that most people here ate very little if they were lucky enough to find some scraps.

Then again, what place was better as an experiment for this idea. If he could accomplish this on a smaller scale then cities as large as Petrous and PennyHarbor, then he could slowly scale up until they were feasible for them too. Maybe one day, even feed all the tens of millions of people living in the capital, Aiden City in the Mountains.

“B-but when you leave-”

“Worry not,” Jonas felt a creeping coldness and weight on his chest. “I’ve seen more than enough. There will be no man, woman, or child to starve under my watch, I will not allow it! I-I...there should be no one wondering where their next meal would come from if it actually ever does arrive.”

Destrian nodded with a completely serious face. He looked back at his men then turned back a sad smile slowly breaking out. His eyes blurred in long past memories, they’ve lived difficult lives already.

Jonas hoped to change that from happening.