Chapter 41 - Life On The Road
"It feels pretty good to be on the road again," Roland said to Simon as the capital city faded into the background, "When is the last time you left the city?"
"It has been a while," Simon admitted as they pedaled their bicycles leisurely, "I’ve never been away for any significant length of time before."
"Much as I like the capital," Roland told him, "I like the rest of the Empire more. The open road, the singing of the birds, the lower density of people…"
"And the complete and utter lack of your wife," Simon finished, grinning at the older man.
"You said it, not me," Roland chuckled, "Sueta and I have our differences, and frankly if I had to live there for most of the year I’d have probably left her years ago."
"So what exactly is our mission?" Simon asked him, "Medo explained it a little, but I don’t think he’s quite sure what we’re doing yet."
"He’s got enough problems without this part," Roland agreed, "We are getting the easy part of this. All we do is ride up to the Siraqi capital city and meet with the King’s representatives. Our job is to set up the meeting to take place as soon as possible."
"So we don’t do any of the actual negotiating," Simon said, "We just set up the meeting."
"Negotiation is the job of a ruler," Roland reminded the younger man, "Our job is just to make it happen."
"You sound like you don’t like this mission," Simon said, "Is there something I should know?"
"Siraq is a nation of good people," Roland said, sighing a little, "But the Royal Family there is a study in how not to run a country. They are slime, pure and simple."
"So why do we deal with them?" Simon wondered, not knowing all the politics of it yet.
"Because we need the access to the north sea," Roland said, "Most of our trade goes to the northern shore of Sotanberg or to points east. They hold the river access to that area, cutting days off the journey."
"Meaning we move more and make more," Simon nodded, "That is why these negotiations are so important?"
"Exactly," Roland nodded, "Luckily they need us as much as we need them. Their economy tends to be a shambles most of the time. The southern regions are more Mullinix than Siraqi nowadays, with Mullinix being a nearly official language there. In some way these negotiations are going to be formalities, but in some ways they are really important."
"How so?" Simon wondered, "I mean I know they are scum…"
"They always try to extort something," Roland grumbled, "We go through it every ten years. Usually end up giving them something minor in return for the passage rights. Should be interesting to see how it goes this time with Massy doing the negotiating."
"He didn’t before?" Simon asked him.
"Iggy did it," Roland said, "He was the Mullinix for the last few times. My pal is not so good with the tactical end of things, but he excels with diplomacy."
"So why isn’t he going on this trip?" Simon said, "You know, I sound like a little kid with all these questions."
"That’s what you are here for," Roland laughed, "The reason Massy is going instead of Iggy is because he is the Mullinix. The Siraqi government doesn’t recognize the fact we have three rulers. They consider only the current Mullinix the ruler, so they will only talk with him."
"Or her," Simon said, remembering how close Miranda was to getting it.
"Or her," Roland admitted, "Though that hasn’t happened in living memory. Thankfully they chose Medo and not Miranda. This would be a mess with a female along."
"They don’t like women either?" Simon asked, "Or is it you that doesn’t like them?"
"You haven’t met Sueta yet," Roland chuckled, "But that’s not it. As far as the Siraqi government is concerned a woman’s place is in the bedroom and not in the ruling chamber. The last time we had a woman as Mullinix we were at war with Siraq so it didn’t matter."
"You never know," Simon shrugged, "Anything can happen. So is this normal for us to be ambassadors?"
"Not like this," Roland said, "They have real ambassadors that live in the capitals of most countries, but Siraq never wanted one sent. So they send us in the rare instances that we actually have to talk to them."
"So we mainly travel and look at things internally?" Simon said, "Right?"
"Exactly," Roland agreed, "That is it in a nutshell. If there is some disaster in an area, flood or what not, we’ll often go eyeball it so that they don’t have to. They know they can trust us to tell them the truth and not embellish it because we only have to answer to them."
"Sounds like a good system," Simon agreed, "Unless one of us goes bad."
"That is rare," Roland said, "I can’t imagine ever turning on Iggy. Could you imagine yourself turning on Medo?"
"Hell no," Simon said, "I’ve only known him a few months and I swear there is something about him that just makes me think he is going to do great things."
"He very well might," Roland nodded, "Anyway, I think we’ve talked enough for now. We’ve got a lot of riding to do today, so enjoy the scenery and the exercise."
"Right," Simon nodded, enjoying the cool and clear ride on the roads.